"HE is dead!" The last breath is drawn. A convulsive movement passed through that little frame, and all is still. "He is dead." O, will that sweet smile never come back? Will those tiny hands never move softly over a mother's face again? Is the fond father to share in those seasons of glee, those little ecstasies, no more?

No; the Lord struck the child, and the rose faded from his cheek, and the lustre from his eye; his sunny smile has given place to a look of distress, and his sweet carol to sharp cries, fading into feeble

moans.

"The Lord struck the child," and "it was very sick." All was anxiety in the palace; servants stepped lightly over the pavements, and moved in silence along the corridors; the fountain in the court could be heard in the little sufferer's room, but it brought him small relief. It was unheeded by the weeping father. "David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.” A touching spectacle it was, to see that "man of war," he who in youthful prowess smote the lion and the bear, who singlehanded laid Goliath in the dust, who had mingled undaunted in so many fierce encounters, and brought home trophies from so many strongholds,-now bowing down under the pressure of domestic grief. God has smitten -the child; he is smiting the father, and in deep contrition David fasts, and weeps, and prays.

The king's recovery to cheerfulness was as striking as his grief. It marked him as a true penitent, to whom, notwithstanding his sin and shame, the joys of salvation were again restored. Particularly

memorable are the words, "I shall go to him," for they point us to his assurance of the child's salvation, and suggest the inquiry, Where do those go who die in infancy? The question has been variously answered. Some have maintained that they cease to exist, like the beasts that perish. By others, it has been held that a part are saved, and a part are lost; the Romish and similar corrupt churches affirming that baptized infants alone are saved, the rest being doomed to outer darkness; while a third class teach that all dying in infancy are saved.

It certainly is deserving of remark, that our only authoritative source of information should be so silent on this subject. When we consider the proportion of the human race who are called away at an early period; when we reflect upon the vast amount of parental grief thus awakened, and the silent inquiries which must have arisen in millions of stricken hearts; at first thought it seems strange that Holy Writ should shed no more light on such a question. When, however, we reflect, that the Author of the Bible never steps aside to gratify human curiosity; that the welfare of departed infants is in no way affected by its contents; and that the volume addresses itself wholly to those who are no

longer infants; the omission ceases to surprise us. But whatever view be taken, it should never be forgotten that the tone of our assertion ought to be modified by the absence of explicit testimony.

Thus much, however, we may affirm positively, that no infants enter heaven on the ground of their own fitness, or because of their entire freedom from moral taint. This cannot be the case, for two reasons: such is not their character; they all come into the world with a corrupt nature inherited from Adam, - a disposition to evil, which, unchanged, disqualifies for heaven, and will certainly prompt to sin. The word of God, moreover, does not speak of any taken into his presence above, except those who are cleansed by the blood of Christ. All infants, therefore, need the mediation of Christ and the renovation of the Holy Spirit to fit them for that abode of holiness.

It occurs then to ask whether reason or Scripture requires a limitation of the grace of God and the application of the atonement to a part only of those who die in infancy? For aught that appears, the salvation of all infants would reflect honor upon the attributes of God, and upon the work of the Saviour and Sanctifier; and the lively oracles, instead of discountenancing, encourage such a belief. Must not

the salvation of all dying so early make it most conspicuously apparent that where sin hath abounded, there grace hath much more abounded? Do any Scripture representations of the world of woe intimate that young children are among the lost?

When, on the other hand, we find David saying so confidently, "I shall go to him ;" and again, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength;" when we find our Lord himself quoting this to the chief priests and scribes, as they were annoyed that children should be singing, "Hosanna to the Son of David ;" and most of all, when we hear him saying, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God," we are led to hope, yes, to believe, that all dying in infancy are, through the atonement of the Saviour, and the regenerating power of the Spirit, adopted by the Father into his family above.

Such is now the general belief of Christendom, with the exception of some of its corrupt churches, as the Roman Catholic, whose Council of Trent decrees, "Whosoever shall affirm that baptism is indifferent, that is, not necessary to salvation, let him be accursed;" and whose catechism teaches that "children, be their parents Christians or Infidels,