The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-04-23
CHILDHOOD,s PRAYER.
A Literature which Appeals Strongly to
tho Heart.


Everything has its literature. Around
the most prosaic duties of life, the fac.
tors of civilization, the sports Of ancient
and modern tunes, literature gathers, as
crystals gather around o central star. It
may be literature of prophesies or O
literature of memories, o literature Of
airy fancies no rule of iron can be pre-.
scribed. The Bohemians, the Greenland.
ers, "our brothers in black" primitive
man, the man in the moon, war, peace,
home, ekies and oceans have clustered
around them in literature profound, pa.
thetio, puzzling and peculiar. The liter.
ature Of childten, by which is meant not
the diluted residing matter prepared for
the little ones, but che literature of their
first loves and friendships and thoughts
and unconventional ways, Is voluminous.
Literary men delight to write of their
early years, when the trail Of the serpent
bad not yet appeared on their hearts.
There Is Joy In remembering that we
were once pure aud not given 10 the or.
raticisms, "the pomps and vanities of
this wicked world" There IL no "crown
of sorrow" in recalling ,Istt!sr's smile,
q fathers appreciation, or even the snow
covered graves In tho old homestead
burying ground, where they nre sleeping
In hopes of Q glorious resurrection. Per-
haps one of the tendercst recollections
any man can have Is TINT Of the evening
prayer at his mothers knee. Unfortu.
nate Is that man whose mother did not
teach him at nightfall to say:
Now lay mo down to sleep,
| pray the Lord my soul to keep;
If should die before wake,
pray the Lord my soul to take.
Mon say that the opening sentence of
the Bible, "In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth," Is sublimer
in its simplicity than all Of Milton's rich
poetry of description. Felix l:endels.
sohn was impressed with the passage In
the first Book of Kings, "Behold, the
Lord passed by" and saw in it SO much
beauty that he determined to write an
oratorio in which he could set 1t to mu.
sic. "The Elijah" was the reault. The
prayer of childhood, "Now I lay me
down to aleep," to me seems grander and
truer In spirit than the elaborate liturgy
Of the Anglican establishment, or the
stilted addresses to Deity delivered In
legislative halls and religious assemblies.
1t Is unaffected helplessness casting it.
self upon power; what 10 more or less
than this cannot be prayer. I have seen
children in time of dreadful storms,
when dark clouds hung unusually low,
and trees were uprooted and fences blown
down, and we expected tho house soon to
yield to the fury of the gale, steal into q
corner and repeat these lines of simple
faith. God knew what they wanted.
What are words9
The literature which has gathered
around this prayer has its burlesque, as
we'll 90 its pathos. The following in.
stance has been ascribed to too many
men for us to say positively it was such
a one. Two Congressman (be assured
they were Congressmen) we're converting,
and o freak of mind utterly inexplicabIe
led them TO refer to religion. Forthwith
one Of them began to eulogize the Lords
prayer as most touching and eloquent in
It's diction he concluded by offering to
bet $40 that his brother could not repeat
Il. The $40 bill was covered. and the
Congressman began: "Now I 10y me
aou to the 90 end anu 'ths os
said; 81 really didn't think you could
do it. The money is yours" PerNaps
the recurrence of the word Lord u what
led to this ignorance.
written on this prayer-from twelve to
twenty lines being taken for each line of
the prayer. The shortest and one of the
cutest has gone the rounds anonymously.
In the anthology before me no name Is
attached. Here it is.
"Now lay mo en-say 1t, darling;
LAY ME-" lisped the tiny lips .s
or my daughter kneeling, bending,
! Der her folded finger tips.
Down to sleep"-"to sleep" she mur.
And the curly head dropped low
II pray the Lord" gently added,
'You can say II all, I know"
"Pray the Lord"-the words came faintly,
Fainter still-"my soul to keep"
Then the tired head fairly nodded,
And the child was fast asleep.
But the dewy eycs half opened
When clasped her to my breast,
And dear voice softly whispered,
Mamma, God knows nll the rest"
All, Mr.. Preacher, here is o faith that
argues your theology down: "God
knows all the rest" It is like the faith
of David when he wrote in the most
plaintiye Of psalms "He knoweth, our
frame; He remembereth that we ere
dust"
, A mother says she saw her youngest
child die, be shrouded and buried, and
did not shed o tear. The evening after
the funeral che was listening to the prayer
of her now only child, and wien the
weak voice piped, 'If should die" she
thought Of the one whose spirit the Lord
had taken. The prayer smote her heart
as the rod of Moses amote the rock, and
o flood Of tears gushed to her ralief.
The sketches of the life of the Rev.
Mott relate that he sank into second child.
hood. The last hour Of his life was ,pe.-
culiary tender and impressive. He lay
on his bed blind and apparently uncon,
scious. His wife sat 'by his bedside. and
upon his request, sang the songs Of his
youth. He was hushed, to repose s,by.
them, like an infant on its j pillow
Watts cradle hymn, Hush, Ny Dear
Lie Still and slnmber,"o = seemed especially. J.
soothing. Visions Of homo floated b..
fore him, and the name Of his mother
was often on his lips. LET as pray, he
said, aud all the family and friends pres.
ent kness He clasped his hands and
began, ftNo= I lay me down to sleep. u
They waited foS him to continue. His1
wife wes first to discover that he bsds fai.
len aaaleep in iJesus. {a.i /. .IS3s
It is proposed In this article 10 do NO
more than suggest what others can do
better thKn the present writer. Let the
literature OF this prayer be collected.
Almost every mother can contribute TO
ik and ha IN ff ha nit{ad WIN ,,.aS,Jd 81