CHILDREN IN THE DARK.
(To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPecturom.") should like to say how fully I endorse the comments made by' your correspondent Mr. Williams in the Spectator of November 80th on the subject of children's prayers and hymns, and the regrettable note etruck by so many of these as to fear of the. dark. It' seems such a generally accepted idea that a child is naturally afraid of the dark that it came to me almost as a surprise to find my own children quite devoid of the sensation. As a child myself I had. been far less happy than I might have been owing to the prolonged' regime of a nurse who peopled my small world with imaginary beings, always on the alert for a suitable opp,ortunity to pounce on naughty children and whisk them away ! The nursery wardrobes chimney, and' cupboard were their temporary billets, but a trap- door in a remote corner of the ceiling was their general head- quarters, from which a descent, especially after dark, mightat any moment be expected ! Snail wonder, then, that an expedition to a dark room required the courage of a hero! As the result of my efforts that my children's minds should, never be shadowed by such nonsense, I have, had the satisfaction of proving repeatedly that darkness has-no terror for them. I have eometimes purposely asked one- of the younger ones, after a journey, to. the top of the house- to fetch. something: "Did you switch on the light?" And the answer has nearly- always been : "Oh nor I knew exactly, where to find it." Once; after returning from a party, they told me on.eof th.estrangest things that had happened was. that the little daughter of the hostess had cried because in a game of- hide-and-eeek she was. afraid. to go into her own nursery in the dark! Such an attitude seemed to. them incomprehensible, and I was- amused to. hear long dMcussiona on it. Had it been a etrange nursery. they could have understood' that she was afraid of falling over furniture; but, an it. was,, the problem offered no-solution ! I must apologize for writings sa:much,. but this subject has always seemed to me very important, and. the- consequences of mistakes are sometimes terribly far-reaching,—
Lam, Sir, &C:. MARGARET WILLIAMSON. 3 Darlaston Road, Wimbledon„ S.W.
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