30 NOVEMBER 1918, Page 16

(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—It is regrettable

that almost all children's prayer-verses refer to the fears and dangers of darkness. The truth of the matter is to the contrary—the child at last in bed is safer than it has been all day. It is surely unwise to suggest to a child any idea of fear when it is being left alone in the dark, and it is not calculated to develop the quality of fearlessness. One cannot but think that in a desire to impart the idea of a Divine Providence, the imagination of a child is often stimulated in the wrong direction and at a time when the suggestion is most readily