chapter

Little Samuel

01KFXVAZG72ES87XGW976KMPSY

Properties

description: # Little Samuel ## Overview This entity is a chapter titled *"Little Samuel"*, authored by M. M. Taylor. It exists as a structured text segment extracted from a larger document, spanning lines 600 to 666 of the source file. The chapter comprises 47 lines of narrative and reflective prose, divided into four subcomponents (chunks), and includes an embedded image referencing Sir Joshua Reynolds’s painting *“Little Samuel”*. The text was extracted on January 26, 2026, by an automated system and later manually edited. ## Context The chapter is part of the [More Classics](arke:01KFXT0KM64XT6K8W52TDEE0YS) collection, which contains selected works from the Western literary and religious canon. It appears to originate from a religious or devotional anthology intended for young readers or moral instruction, given its thematic focus on childhood piety and biblical exemplars. The chapter reflects on personal childhood memories tied to religious practice and the influence of visual art in spiritual formation. ## Contents The chapter recounts the author’s early experiences with faith, centered on a small family Bible containing six engravings of Bible scenes. The most impactful image was a woodcut based on Sir Joshua Reynolds’s *“Little Samuel”*, depicting the young Samuel kneeling in prayer with the words *“Speak, for Thy servant heareth.”* This image inspired a deep personal engagement with the biblical story of Samuel—his consecration by his mother Hannah, service under Eli, and divine calling. The author uses Samuel’s life to argue that children can genuinely serve God, that early piety does not imply early death, and that religious devotion fosters strength and distinction rather than weakness. The chapter concludes with a引用 of a Christian poem expressing the desire for Samuel’s humble, obedient heart.
description_generated_at: 2026-01-26T19:10:51.194Z
description_model: Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507
description_title: Little Samuel
end_line: 666
extracted_at: 2026-01-26T19:08:53.932Z
extracted_by: structure-extraction-lambda
source_file: 01KFXVA454RTKCJEQJMP0QKNKY
start_line: 600
text: 419 Little Samuel 420 421 By M. M. Taylor  422 ^{}[]  423 # LITTLE SAMUEL 424 425 ![img-0.jpeg](arke:01KFXV7S38A1NP64QH0KMW2HBQ) 426 427 HEN I was a little boy of about six years old I was accustomed to be taken to church regularly by my parents on the first day of the week. I cannot say that I definitely remember any direct instruction received at this date from the pulpit. I learned, no doubt, to sit quietly, so as not to disturb other people, and grew into habits of attention. But one memory stands vividly out before me still. My mother had a Bible, which I have now in my hand, not like other Bibles of the period, but one which she had taken out in numbers, and had bound for church use. It was about five inches long by three broad and two thick, with gilt edges, and finished with a flap, on the inner side of which was her name in gold letters; but what charmed me most was the fact that  428 80 429 430 it had six engravings of Bible scenes, which I never wearied looking at, and the study of which did more for me, I verily believe, than any sermons heard by me at that time. 431 432 The first of these pictures was a wood-cut from Sir Joshua Reynolds’s painting of “Little Samuel,” representing a little boy in his night-dress, apparently just risen from his first sleep, and kneeling on the floor with hands uplifted and an eager look upon his countenance, while beneath were the words, “Speak, for Thy servant heareth.” There was for me a fascination in this simple picture which held me like a spell, and I have never seen it since without emotion. It brings before me the whole story of Samuel, and as I look at it now I am a child again, sitting by my mother’s side in the old pew. 433 434 One immediate result of all this was to make me very eager to read the history of Samuel, that I might know all about him; so I became familiar with the details of his story—how his birth was in  435 SAMUEL AND ELI  436 ^{}[]  437 83 438 439 answer to his mother's prayer; how, out of gratitude to God, she consecrated him from his infancy to the Tabernacle service; how he grew up there into the favor of the aged Eli; how his mother came every year to see him, bringing him a new coat; and how, on the occasion to which the picture refers, the Lord called him, and gave him a message full of terrible forecast to the venerable High Priest. But that which interested me most was the statement that “Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child girded with a linen ephod”; and as I go back upon that now, I think it may fitly suggest the topic of early religion. 440 441 For one thing, it tells us that it is possible for a child to serve the Lord. It is not uncommon for young people to put off the matter of religion until they have grown older; but over and above the danger thereby incurred, there is no need for such delay. True, we cannot expect that piety will show itself in a child in the same way as it does in those who are  442 84 443 444 grown up, but it may show itself just as really, for all that; and wherever there is the spirit of trust in God, the willingness to learn out of His Word, and the determination to obey Him in everything, there true piety is. No matter, therefore, how young we are, we can still, like Samuel, “minister before the Lord.” 445 446 And then the case of Samuel proves that there is no necessary connection between early piety and early death. It has somehow come to be believed that these two things are inseparable. The very good children are said to be too good for this world, and children themselves dislike the idea of early piety because of their love of life. We have all heard of the little boy who, on recovery from a dangerous illness, said, “If I had been one of them pious, I’d have been a goner, sure!” But Samuel lived to be an old man and full of years. Nor was he an exception in this particular. The same thing is seen in the histories of Joseph and Moses and Daniel, and, in modern  447 85 448 449 days, some of the ripest old saints who have lived to fourscore years and more feared the Lord from their youth. 450 451 Neither, again, does early piety prevent one from becoming distinguished in after-life. Samuel became Judge of Israel, which was, for the time, something similar to President among ourselves. Daniel was Prime-minister at the court of Babylon. Joseph rose to the second place in Egypt, and in general it holds good that godliness has the promise of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come. 452 453 Once more, Samuel was not a nambypamby boy. He was, as we think of him and his life at the Tabernacle, a manly little fellow. He did not whimper continually after his mother, but was always glad to see her when she came with the new coat; and when he had to give that awful message to Eli, he did not quiver in the least, but gave it faithfully, though sadly. He was no milksop, nor tied to his mother's apron-strings. It is untrue  454 86 455 456 to say that religion in young or old is a mark of either physical or mental weakness, and those who would make us believe that such is the case are false witnesses and children of the wicked one. 457 458 Then, last of all, Samuel’s life was a useful life. It filled a large place in the history of his people, and his influence was always for good. Wherever he went he was ministering before the Lord, just as he did when he was a little boy. Through life he was loved and honored by all, and when he died he was laid in the grave amid the lamentations of the people. Is there not something in a life like this attractive to us all, and will not every one of my readers make the prayer of the Christian poet his own?— 459 460 > “Oh, give me Samuel’s heart— 461 > A lowly heart, that waits 462 > Where in Thy house Thou art, 463 > Or watches at Thy gates— 464 > By day and night, a heart that still 465 > Moves at the breathing of Thy will.”
title: Little Samuel

Relationships

containsChunk 1chunk
containsChunk 2chunk
containsChunk 3chunk
containsChunk 4chunk

Metadata

Version: 3
Created: 1/26/2026
Updated: 1/26/2026
Edited by: Description Service