not a
professor of religion, who served his wife so manfully, and with such a
cheerful spirit, on such an occasion, would not have acquired, in other
ways, the respect and love of the people, or that he could trace to it,
absolutely, great prosperity in business, through the assistance of
prominent members in that church. Sure we are that no such motive
influenced him; but it is equally true that we cannot link ourselves to
God's service, nor to his friends, in any way, without receiving his
blessing. "Come thou with us, and we will do thee good." "Blessed is he
that blesseth thee." In the eyes of estimable people, and of all whose
good opinion and best wishes are most desirable, the man who overcomes
any little pride, or sensitiveness, or fear of man, and goes with his
pious wife and child to the house of God, and offers the child, for her,
to be baptized, is more of a man than before, gains reputation for some
desirable qualities, excites respect for self-reliance, the quiet
performance of a duty from which certain feelings might lead him to
shrink, and in the increased love and esteem of others, to say no more,
he has his reward.

God was angry with Moses for delaying, if not neglecting, to circumcise
his child. His wife was a Midianite; her associations with the ordinance
were not like those of Moses, and perhaps he had yielded too much to her
known feelings. At least, the child had not been circumcised, and we are
told, "The Lord met him in the inn, and sought to slay him." Some
accident there, or a sudden and alarming illness, made him feel that God
had a controversy with him. Zipporah was not slow to interpret the
providence. If Moses had said with himself, So long as I consecrate my
child to God by prayer, the seal of the covenant cannot be essential,
God taught him his mistake. As soon as the rite had been performed, we
read, "So he let him go." It may be noticed, here, that the unworthy
manner in which Zipporah performed the rite, did not make it invalid.
They who fear that their baptism was not solemnized, in all respects, as
it should have been, may draw instruction and comfort from this
narrative.

There have been instances, within my knowledge, in which one or both of
the parents of a child have yielded to some untoward influences, and
have withheld the child from being baptized. While I cannot, and would
not, interpret certain events connected with this omission, on the part
of some from whom better thi