their own ratification of the baptismal vows, meet the needs of the case. If the pre-Reformation custom of infant baptism with episcopal ratification erred in the direction of a crushing socialism, the Protestant tendency to postpone baptism entirely or essentially, without supplementing it by a new sacrament exclusively for infants, errs equally in the opposite direction. There ought to be a rite, not implying responsibility on the part of the child or pledging him, but nevertheless recognising him as an offspring of the spiritual organism of the community, and committing the community to its distinctive obligations towards each new moral agency.

We need a ritual, sacramental in nature, of the receiving of very young children by the national Church and of their dedication by parents to the higher service of the nation. Such a sacrament would bear little outward or even essential resemblance to the present baptismal rite of the Prayer Book. Its construction, therefore, could not proceed by way of re-interpreting or revising the present form; in order to supply the deficiency in our existing manual of religious services, it would be necessary to construct a new rite. I may be permitted, therefore, without recommending its adoption, to describe one tentatively used in ethical societies, as thus I can most easily convey to the reader what I conceive must be the essential nature of a sacrament of the recognition of children.

This tentative ceremony used in a number of ethical societies is opened with these words by the officiating representative of the religious community :

In old days there were angels who came and took men by the hand, and led them away from the City of Destruction. We see no white-winged angels now. But yet men are led away from threatening destruction: a hand is

put into theirs which leads them forth gently towards a calm and bright land, so that they look no more backward; and the hand may be a little child's.

Or, as an alternative :

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Or this :

And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

Then are chanted the following lines from Emerson :—

Love's hearts are faithful, but not fond;

Bound for the just, but not beyond;

Not glad, as the low loving herd,
Of self in other still preferred;
But they have heartily designed
The benefit of all mankind.

And they serve mankind austerely,
After their own genius, clearly,
Without false humility;

For this is Love's nobility ;

Not to scatter bread and gold,

Goods and raiment bought and sold;

But to hold fast his simple sense,
And speak the speech of innocence,
And with hand and body and blood
To make his bosom counsel good.
For he that feeds men serveth few,
While he serves all who dares be true.

Then is read as a lesson any appropriate passage from the Bible or other literature. Two have been favourites in ethical societies on such occasions. One of these is Wordsworth's "Ode on Intimations of Immortality," the chief theme of which is neither immortality nor the doctrine of pre-natal reminiscence, but-in the very spirit of Christ's own words—the glorious innocence and docility of children, their admiring wonder and curiosity, their audacious faith, displayed in their readiness for new adventure, as compared with the over-cautious prudence, indifference and apathy, excessive self-interest and conventionality, prevalent among adults. The other is a condensation of the passage in George Eliot's Silas Marner which culminates in the sentences given above as opening words of the ceremony-where she tenderly and graphically presents the humanising effect upon a miser of the transfer of his affections from his gold to a little child. After the reading and the singing of a hymn, the minister pronounces this exordium, taken almost without alteration from a passage in Sir John Seeley's Ecce Homo:

How were those men and women brought up who have become for the most part pure, generous and humane? With rare exceptions, they were reared by parents who had these qualities, they lived in a society which had a high tone, they were accustomed daily and hourly to see just acts done, to hear gentle words spoken; and the justness and the gentleness passed into their hearts, and slowly moulded their habits, making their moral discernment clear.

Often they say, "How

Such men and women, looking back to their childhood,
remember commands and prohibitions which it is a pleasure
to obey for the sake of those who gave them.
think of those who are absent or dead, and
would this action appear to father, if he knew?" or
"Would mother have approved or disapproved that word?"
To such, no baseness appears a small baseness because its
consequences may be small; nor does the yoke of law
seem burdensome, although it is ever on their necks; nor
do they dream of covering a sin by an atoning act of virtue.
Often in solitude they blush when some impure fancy sails
across the clear heaven of their minds: because they are
never alone, because the absent Examples, the Authorities.
they still revere, rule not their actions only but their inmost
hearts; because their conscience is indeed awake and alive,
representing all the nobleness with which they stand in
sympathy, and reporting their most hidden indecorum
before a public opinion of the absent and the dead.

Then, as an introduction to the ceremony of the parents' pledge, the minister says:—

It is a time-honoured custom among religious fellowships to welcome into their midst the young children of members. The mother and father, grateful for the innocent fresh life which has blest their love, and feeling their obligation to bring up their children in the path of rectitude, are well pleased and anxious to make an acknowledgment of their joy and duty, in the presence of those with whom they are bound in spiritual communion. Just as they sought upon the occasion of marriage the sanction and blessing of the State and of Humanity; so after the birth of a child they again, as it were, summon the community to recognise and approve the precious little life which they have brought into the world. They are aware also that the upbringing of the child does not rest in their hands alone. For good or ill, the neighbourhood, the city, the nation, the whole world will exercise influence. The parents therefore turn to the community, to secure its help and goodwill.

They invite it, through the religious company of friends and sympathisers, to acknowledge and assume joint re

sponsibility with themselves. It is in this spirit that we are now to perform the ceremony of dedicating to the good life, and welcoming (here state the full name of the child), who has been brought here by his (or her) parents this morning. As representing this assembly and speaking in the name of Humanity, I invite (here give the names of the father and mother) with their little child (here again naming the child by its Christian name) to stand before me.

Will you, the father and mother of this little boy (or girl), not only care for his (or her) bodily health and outward prosperity in life, but do your utmost to see that he (or she) grows up to be high-minded and brave, shielding him (or her) from the stain of evil, instilling into his (or her) spirit principles of love and duty, and training him (or her) not only to self-respect and self-control, but to social service and consideration for others? Will you teach him (or her) to think for himself (or herself), and help him (or her) to choose as the chief end of his (or her) life the making of the world purer, braver and happier for his (or her) having lived in it? (The parents reply: We will.)

Thus have these parents publicly dedicated their child to Righteousness of Life and the Peace of Righteousness.

Then the minister adds :

And now, in recognition of the human claim which this child has upon all of us, and upon all men, I request the members of this church and other kindly disposed persons present in this congregation to rise and stand (the congregation rises) while I place this wreath of flowers, as a symbol of human love, which is the crown of human life, upon the head of this child. (Here the wreath is placed upon the child's head.)

Likewise I give to the parents for their child two of the best books ever written, to be kept for him (or her) until he (or she) be grown up. The books are works of two great and good men. These men were of different religions: one was a Pagan and one a Christian; but both were lovers of righteousness and of all mankind—– Marcus Aurelius, the good Emperor of Rome, and Thomas à Kempis, the humble Brother of the Common Life. These two have been chosen that together they may come