CHILDREN'S PRAYERS.
[TO THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR."3
SIR,—In answer to a request in your paper for some simple verses for a child's first prayers, I quote the following, which I used more than fifty years ago, and of which Lady Augusta Stanley in her dying illness wrote : I often say my childhood's prayer at night, altering one or two necessary words, and feel the same comfort and happiness in it that I did in my earliest years ":— " Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me, Bless Thy little lamb to-night; Through the darkness be Thou near me, Keep me safe till morning light.
All this day Thy hand Bath led me, And I thank Thee for Thy care; Thou 'met blest me, clothed and fed me; Listen to my evening prayer.
May my sins be all forgiven;
Bless the friends I love so well; Take me when I die to Heaven,
Happy there with Thee to dwell."
There is also another little prayer, very simple:- " My gracious God, I come to Thee And thank Thee for to-day, For the dear friends who love me so, For every pleasant thing I know, And all my work and play.
If I have said an angry word I ask to be forgiven; Fold me to-night within Thine arms. And keep me safe from-alt alarms. Dear Lord of Earth and Heaven."
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