Affectionately,
    Lucy Gilding.

If a telephone message is sent, the form is: 

    “Mr. and Mrs. Gilding, Jr. would like Mr. and Mrs. Norman to come
    to the baby’s christening on Sunday at half past four, at their
    house.”

=ASKING THE GODPARENTS=

Before setting the date for the christening, the godmothers (two for a girl and one for a boy) and the godfathers (two for a boy and one for a girl) have, of course, already been chosen.

If a godfather (or mother) after having given his consent is abroad or otherwise out of reach at the time of the christening, a proxy takes part in the ceremony instead, and without thereby becoming a godfather.  Since godparents are always most intimate friends, it is natural to ask them when they come to see the mother and the baby (which they probably do often) or to write them if at a distance.  Sometimes they are asked at the same time that the baby’s arrival is announced to them, occasionally even before.

The Gilding baby, for instance, supposedly sent the following telegram: 

    Mrs. Richard Worldly,
      Great Estates.

    I arrived last night and my mother and father were very glad to
    see me, and I am now eagerly waiting to see you.

Your loving godson,
Robert Gilding, 3d.

But more usually a godparent at a distance is telegraphed: 

John Strong,
Equitrust, Paris.

It’s a boy.  Will you be godfather? 
Gilding.

But in any case a formally worded request is out of place.  Do not write: 

“My husband and I sincerely hope that you will consent to be our son’s godmother,” etc.  Any one so slightly known as this wording implies would not be asked to fill so close a position as that of godmother without great presumption on your part.

You must never ask any one to be a godmother or godfather whom you do not know intimately well, as it is a responsibility not lightly to be undertaken and impossible to refuse.  Godparents should, however, be chosen from among friends rather than relatives, since the sole advantage of godparents is that they add to the child’s relatives, so that if it should be left alone in the world, its godparents become its protectors.  But where a child is born with plenty of relatives who can be called upon for advice and affection and assistance in event of his or her becoming an orphan, godparents are often chosen from among them.  Nothing could be more senseless, however, than choosing grandparents, since the relationship is as close as can be anyway, and the chances that the parents will outlive their own parents make such a choice still more unsuitable.

In France, the godmother is considered, next to the parents and grandparents, the nearest relative a child can have.  In some European countries, the Queen or another who is above the parents in rank, assumes a special protectorate over her godchild.  In this instance the godmother appoints herself.