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*Jessica’s First Prayer* (1866)
Feb. 22nd, 2019 07:42 pm*Jessica’s First Prayer* (1866)
It is unlikely that this very slight children’s book would continue to be read today if it were not for its evangelical message.
Hesba Stretton was the pen name of Sarah Smith (1832 –1911), an English writer of children's books. She was a Methodist and one of the most popular Evangelical writers of the 19th century. Her moral tales and religious stories were printed in huge numbers and often chosen as school and Sunday-school prizes. She became a regular contributor to Household Words and All the Year Round under Charles Dickens's editorship, after her sister had successfully submitted a story of hers without her knowledge. Altogether she wrote more than 40 novels.
The book that won her widespread fame was Jessica's First Prayer, first published in the journal Sunday at Home in 1866 and the following year in book form. By the end of the 19th century it had sold at least a million and a half copies (nearly ten times as many as Alice in Wonderland).
The plot is incredibly slight – Jessica is a street waif with an alcoholic mother who befriends a street coffee seller. She follows him to the Church where he acts as a warden and is converted. In turn, her sweet nature converts him from his money-grubbing ways.
This book launched a thousand sequels, with all those stories about street arabs (a very odd 19th century term for the urban poor) and the importance of philanthropy to the poor. I found it very hard to take the Christian message straight as there is such a long debate about whether or not she should be allowed in the Church as she looks so ‘low’ in her rags and without shoes. In the end, the compromise is that she puts on a second hand cloak belonging to the Minister’s daughter every time she goes to Church so as to not distract the congregation with her scruffiness. Otherwise there might have been some kind of Peterloo-like uprising, I suppose. Surely the more Christian response would have been to clothe the poor?
Having said that, Stretton did herself walk the walk as well as talk the talk. She worked with slum children in Manchester in the 1860s and in 1884 was one of the co-founders of the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children which later combined with other organisations to form the national society we now know. She was the chief writer for the Religious Tract Society which started producing easy-to-read novels and fiction in the 1850s. In her retirement she and her sister ran a branch of the Popular Book Club for working-class readers.
I would also note that the book has a lot of reviews on Goodbooks. Far more than you would imagine that a mostly forgotten work of minimal literary merit would have. It now seems to be read either by:
• Evangelists who like the message and the way the language is pitched at the right level for using as a home school text. It looks like some American publishers still print it.
• People interested in 19th century children’s literature.
My summary – it’s a very short read. The language is plain. The plot is straightforward. It was and continues to be famous only for its evangelical piety.
It is unlikely that this very slight children’s book would continue to be read today if it were not for its evangelical message.
Hesba Stretton was the pen name of Sarah Smith (1832 –1911), an English writer of children's books. She was a Methodist and one of the most popular Evangelical writers of the 19th century. Her moral tales and religious stories were printed in huge numbers and often chosen as school and Sunday-school prizes. She became a regular contributor to Household Words and All the Year Round under Charles Dickens's editorship, after her sister had successfully submitted a story of hers without her knowledge. Altogether she wrote more than 40 novels.
The book that won her widespread fame was Jessica's First Prayer, first published in the journal Sunday at Home in 1866 and the following year in book form. By the end of the 19th century it had sold at least a million and a half copies (nearly ten times as many as Alice in Wonderland).
The plot is incredibly slight – Jessica is a street waif with an alcoholic mother who befriends a street coffee seller. She follows him to the Church where he acts as a warden and is converted. In turn, her sweet nature converts him from his money-grubbing ways.
This book launched a thousand sequels, with all those stories about street arabs (a very odd 19th century term for the urban poor) and the importance of philanthropy to the poor. I found it very hard to take the Christian message straight as there is such a long debate about whether or not she should be allowed in the Church as she looks so ‘low’ in her rags and without shoes. In the end, the compromise is that she puts on a second hand cloak belonging to the Minister’s daughter every time she goes to Church so as to not distract the congregation with her scruffiness. Otherwise there might have been some kind of Peterloo-like uprising, I suppose. Surely the more Christian response would have been to clothe the poor?
Having said that, Stretton did herself walk the walk as well as talk the talk. She worked with slum children in Manchester in the 1860s and in 1884 was one of the co-founders of the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children which later combined with other organisations to form the national society we now know. She was the chief writer for the Religious Tract Society which started producing easy-to-read novels and fiction in the 1850s. In her retirement she and her sister ran a branch of the Popular Book Club for working-class readers.
I would also note that the book has a lot of reviews on Goodbooks. Far more than you would imagine that a mostly forgotten work of minimal literary merit would have. It now seems to be read either by:
• Evangelists who like the message and the way the language is pitched at the right level for using as a home school text. It looks like some American publishers still print it.
• People interested in 19th century children’s literature.
My summary – it’s a very short read. The language is plain. The plot is straightforward. It was and continues to be famous only for its evangelical piety.
