_sponsors_
will be gone into under that head. The first prayer is by Luther,
the second is from an old Office; the Gospel, with nearly all the
addresses or exhortations here and elsewhere in the Prayer Book, is
from the "Consultation," the work of Hermann, a German reformer.
The questions to the sponsors are taken from an old Office. The
prayer of Consecration came into the present form in 1661; but by
Consecration here we only mean that the element of water is
separated from common to sacred uses. It is not a necessary part
of Baptism, as is shown by its being omitted in the Office for
Private Baptism. The only two things necessary for the validity of
Holy Baptism are (1) that it should be administered in water, (2) in
the name of the Holy Trinity, as is shown by the questions in that
part of the Office for Private Baptism which treats of receiving a
child publicly into the Church. It is to be noticed that the _rule_
of our Church is that the child should be immersed in the water
(see the Rubric before the form of words which accompany the act of
Baptism). Thus the rite of immersion can be claimed by any Church
people. The custom of affusion, or aspersion, or sprinkling, came
into use in the Western Church as early as the 13th century; but in
the ancient Church Baptism was so administered to the sick. The
difference in the climates of Western Europe and the Holy Land is
sufficient to account for the custom.

The words which express the reception of the newly-baptized child
into the congregation belong altogether to the English Prayer Book.
The ceremony of making the sign of the cross has come down from the
ancient Church.

The Address to the congregation, the Lord's Prayer, and the
Thanksgiving which follows, were placed here in 1552. It is to
be noticed how clearly the Church expresses her belief in the
regeneration (see _Regeneration_) of each baptized infant. The
latter part of the last exhortation was added in 1661. "The vulgar
tongue" of course means the "common" or English language.

The note at the end of the Office, although declaring the eternal
safety of a baptized child, dying before it commits actual sin,
does not express any opinion as to the future of an unbaptized
child.

BAPTISM, PRIVATE. To be used only for "great cause and necessity."
This service was drawn up in 1661, chiefly from the "Consultation."
It is very much to be deplored that so few of the children baptized
at home, who live, are br