dually forming their tender minds to piety, by Christian precept; according to these admirable words of the Wiseman: " A young man according to his way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it." [1]
That when baptized they receive the mysterious gifts of faith cannot be matter of doubt; not that they believe by the formal assent of the mind, but because their incapacity is supplied by the faith of their parents, if the parents profess the true faith, if not, (to use the words of St. Augustine) "by that of the universal society of the saints;" [2] for they are said with propriety to be presented for baptism by all those, to whom their initiation in that sacred rite was a source of joy, and by whose charity they are united to the communion of the Holy Ghost.
The faithful are earnestly to be exhorted, to take care that their children be brought to the church, as soon as it can be done with safety, to receive solemn baptism: infants, unless possible, baptized, cannot enter heaven, and hence we may well conceive how deep the enormity of their guilt, who, through negligence, suffer them to remain without the grace of the sacrament, long er than necessity may require; particularly at an age so tender as to be exposed to numberless dangers of death. [3] With regard to adults who enjoy the perfect use of reason, persons, for instance, born of infidel parents, the practice of the primitive Church points out a different manner of proceeding: to them the Christian faith is to be proposed; and they are earnestly to be exhorted, allured, and invited to embrace it. If converted to the Lord God, they are then to be admonished, not to defer baptism beyond the time prescribed by the Church: it is written, " delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day;" [4] and they are to be taught, that in their regard perfect conversion consists in regeneration by baptism. Besides, the longer they defer baptism, the longer are they deprived of the use and graces of the other Sacraments, which fortify in the practice of the Christian religion, and which are accessible through baptism only. They are also deprived of the inestimable graces of baptism, the salutary waters of which not only wash away all the stains of past sins, but also enrich the soul with divine grace, which enables the Christian to avoidsin for the future, and preserve the invaluable treasures of righteousness and innocence: effects which, confessedly, constitute a perfect epitome of a Christian life. [5]
On this class of persons, however, the Church does not confer this Sacrament hastily: she will have it deferred for a certain time; nor is the delay attended with the same danger as in the case of infants, which we have already mentioned: and should any unforeseen accident deprive adults of baptism, their
