when he is old he will not depart from it," Prov. xxix. 27; xxii. 6.

These and all other means, however, to be successful, must be combined with a strong and operative sense of the need of divine grace in the whole process of a Christian education. No parents can of themselves secure the salvation of their children, who, when they are converted, "are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God," John, i. 13. Without the aid of the Spirit, efforts to convert sinners are fruitless, 1 Cor. iii. 6. And he converts whom he will, bestowing his favour freely on those who merit nothing, James, i. 18; Phil. i. 12, 13. Hence parents must give effect to all other means by frequent prayer, to which habit the promises are very large, Matt. vii. 7, 8; John, xiv. 13. Intercession has often been blessed by the Almighty, Gen. xviii. 23; Exod. xxxii. 14; Numb. xiv. 20. He has graciously heard parental intercession (Gen. xvii. 20); intercession is agreeable to him (James, v. 16); and especially when two parents unite to pray for their children they may look for his blessing, Matt. xviii. 19. When a Christian education has been conducted thus, very often has the following promises received an ample fulfilment: "I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring, and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses. One shall say, the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with

I am

his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel," Isa. xliv. 3-5.

To what affectionate parent will these terms, upon which alone a blessing can be secured for a family, seem hard? Great blessings are usually gained by great labours. "In all labour there is profit. The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat." By no less exertion can parents bless their children. About regeneration in infancy these texts speak nothing, and if infant-baptism be founded upon them it has no scriptural foundation. And of this many parents who sprinkle their children seem to be instinctively aware, notwithstanding the contrary instruction of many of their ministers. For thus an excellent author complains, imputing to unbelief the just and unavoidable conclusions of their understandings: "They do not consider the child as thus regenerated, adopted, and incorporated, and therefore they do not plead the promise for a blessing on their education of him as devoted to God, or call upon him as one invested with so high privileges as a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven, to walk worthy of his high calling. . . . Neither baptismal blessings nor baptismal vows are distinctly presented to the mind of the child; and his baptism has no practical purpose. . . . The child grows up without any consciousness of his baptismal enjoyments or privileges; and the church, not merely the professing but the spiritual church, exercises no

faith in the promise, and presents no prayers for its accomplishment towards him. Thus, even among the pious, baptism is little more than a dead letter, promises without plea for their fulfilment, vows without concern to discharge them, a ceremony acquitting them from subsequent interest, a sign signifying nothing."-Budd, 11, 12.

But let it be remembered that all faith must rest upon the promises of God, lying between presumption and distrust. Distrust expects too little, presumption expects too much; faith believes all that God has said, and expects all that God has promised. To doubt that a blessing will follow Christian education is distrust, because God has promised it; to assume the regeneration of children in infancy is presumption, because God has not promised it. Misapplied promises have often led to presumption. When Savonarola, at Florence, agreed to test the truth of his doctrine by walking through the fire, because God has said, "When thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned," he was presumptuous. When Mr. Fletcher of Madeley, in his youth, tried to dry up the puddles in his road by prayer, because Christ has said, "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing ye shall receive" (Matt. xxi. 22), he was presumptuous. When in our own day a number of serious persons attempted to speak in unknown tongues, and to heal the sick by a touch, because Jesus had said that such signs should accompany faith in him, they also were presumptuous, Mark, xvi. 16, 17. And so

it seems to me that to baptize children as regenerate, assuming their regeneration without any warrant, either from scripture or from facts, is no less presumptuous. As no error is innoxious, so this, I fear, leads parents in many cases to substitute the excited devotion of a short half-hour for the patient labour of years. It is so pleasant to the indolent and worldly to believe that a few prayers and a momentary desire to commit a child to the care of God may accomplish its regeneration and salvation; and so easy thus to extinguish the salutary fears for its welfare which would have led to a careful Christian education, that this misapplication of the promises of God is, I fear, extensively injurious.

SECTION IV.-Baptism of Infants not warranted by the Blessing which Christ pronounced upon Little Children.

Many think that the practice of baptizing infants is authorized by the blessing which Jesus pronounced upon the little children who were brought to him. The following is the narrative of the transaction by Mark, Matthew, and Luke :

"And they brought young children (infants, Luke, xviii. 15) to him, that he should touch them (put his hands on them and pray, Matt. xix. 13). And his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it he was much displeased, and

(having called them to him, Luke) 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," Mark, x. 13-16.

Of those who brought these infants to Christ we know nothing. They might be parents or other friends, pious or still unconverted; but having the children under their charge they brought them to Jesus to receive his blessing and the benefit of his prayers. Although the disciples of Jesus had baptized many converts (John, iii. 22, 26; iv. 1), these persons did not bring their children to be baptized, which may lead us to think that infants were not admitted to baptism by our Lord; but that they might receive his benediction; and when they sought the presence of Jesus for this purpose, they were reproved by the disciples for so doing. This affords evidence that our Lord did not then sanction infant-baptism; for had he done so, the disciples would not have reproved those who were fulfilling a customary duty, but would have known it to be his will that infants should be brought to him. Baptism, then, being unthought of by any of the persons concerned, the Apostles blamed these friends of the children for seeking to disturb him by their requests for infants and little children, who were beneath his notice. At which Jesus was