adults,
we read: "Well-beloved, who are come hither desiring _to receive Holy
Baptism_, ye have heard how the congregation hath prayed, that our Lord
Jesus Christ would vouchsafe to ... _release you of your sins_". And,
again, dealing with infants, the Rubric at the end of the "Public
Baptism of Infants" declares that "It is certain, by God's Word, that
children _who are {72} baptized_, dying before they commit _actual
sin_, are undoubtedly saved".

In affirming this, the Church does not condemn all the unbaptized,
infants or adults, to everlasting perdition, as the teaching of some
is. Every affirmation does not necessarily involve its opposite
negation. It was thousands of years before any souls at all were
baptized on earth, and even now, few[14] in comparison with the total
population of the civilized and uncivilized world, have been baptized.
The Church nowhere assumes the self-imposed burden of legislation for
these, or limits their chance of salvation to the Church Militant.
What she does do, is to proclaim her unswerving belief in "one Baptism
for the remission of sins"; and her unfailing faith in God's promises
to those who _are_ baptized--"which promise, He, for His part, will
most surely keep and perform". On this point, she speaks with nothing
short of "undoubted certainty"; on the other point, she is silent. She
does not condemn an infant because no responsible person has brought it
to Baptism, though she does condemn the person for not bringing it.
She does not limit {73} the power of grace to souls in this life only,
but she does offer grace in this world, which may land the soul safely
in the world to come.

One other thing Baptism does. Making the child a member of Christ, it
gives it a "Christ-ian" name.

_The Christian Name_.

This Christian, or fore-name as it was called, is the real name. It
antedates the surname by many centuries, surnames being unknown in
England before the Norman invasion. The Christian name is the
Christ-name. It cannot, by any known legal method, be changed.
Surnames may be changed in various legal ways: not so the Christian
name.[15] This was more apparent when the baptized were given only one
Christian name, for it was not until the eighteenth century that a
second or third name was added, and then only on grounds of convenience.

Again, according to the law of England, the only legal way in which a
Christian name can be given, is by Baptism. Thus, if a