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received by Thy blessing this child, present it to Thee, our Creator, Father, and most merciful Lord God, with profound humility, that Thou mayest be my God and the God of my offspring forever. Oh, the vast benignity and mercy conferred upon us who believe that we, having been ransomed from mankind, have been made first-fruits to God and the Lamb! Do Thou, therefore, ratify and confirm this blessing, O most merciful God, that the child may be in the number of Thine elect, and receive a portion with Thy sanctified ones. And since I now deliver it, to obtain richer knowledge, to the director of youth, I pray Thee, add Thy blessing, that being instructed by Thy Holy Spirit, it may learn more and more what pleaseth Thee, and walkin Thy commandments, Fear of Thee, O Lord, is the beginning of wisdom, therefore fill its hearb with Thy fear, and enlighten it with the light of knowledge according to Thy will; so that its advanced age, if Thou shouldst deem fit, may be glorious to Thee, useful to its neighbors, and salutary to itself. Hear me, most beloved Father, and fulfill the prayer of Thy servant, for the sake of the intercession of our mediator Jesus Christ, who received little children when brought to Him, embraced them in His arms, imparting to them a kiss and benediction.”

 

COLLATERAL READING.

 

Adler’s Moral Instruction of Children, Chap. V.; Edgeworth’s Practical Education, Chap. XIX.; Herford’s Student’s Fröbel, Chap. IV.; Pestalozzi’s Leonard and Gertrude, and How Gertrude Teaches Her Children; Richter’s Levana, Fourth Fragment, Chap. II.; Rousseau’s Émile, Book II.