=HOUSE CHRISTENING=

Unless forbidden by the church to which the baby’s parents belong, the house christening is by far the easier, safer and prettier.  Easier, because the baby does not have to have wraps put on and off and be taken out and brought in; safer, because it is not apt to catch cold; and prettier, for a dozen reasons.

The baby in the first place looks much prettier in a dress that has not been crushed by having a coat put over it and taken off and put on and off again.  In the second place, a baby brought down from the nursery without any fussing is generally “good,” whereas one that has been dressed and undressed and taken hither and yon is apt to be upset and therefore to cry.  If it cries in church it just has to cry!  In a house it can be taken into another room and be brought back again after it has been made “more comfortable.”  It is trying to a young mother who is proud of her baby’s looks, to go to no end of trouble to get exquisite clothes for it, and ask all her friends in, and then have it look exactly like a tragedy mask carved in a beet!  And you can scarcely expect a self-respecting baby who is hauled and mauled and taken to a strange place and handed to a strange person who pours cold water on it—­not to protest.  And alas! it has only one means.

The arrangements made for a house christening are something like those made for a house wedding—­only much simpler.  The drawing-room or wherever the ceremony is to be performed is often decorated with pots of pale pink roses, or daisies, or branches of dogwood or white lilacs.  Nothing is prettier than the blossoms of fruit trees (if they can be persuaded to keep their petals on) or any other spring flowers.  In summer there are all the garden flowers.  In autumn, cosmos and white chrysanthemums, or at any season, baby’s breath and roses.

The “font” is always a bowl—­of silver usually—­put on a small high table.  A white napkin on the table inevitably suggests a restaurant rather than a ritual and is therefore unfortunate, and most people of taste prefer to have the table covered with old church brocade and an arrangement of flowers either standing behind or laid upon it so that the stems are toward the center and covered by the base of the bowl.

If the clergyman is to wear vestments, a room must be put at his disposal.

At the hour set for the ceremony, the clergyman enters the room first and takes his place at the font.  The guests naturally make way, forming an open aisle.  If not, the baby’s father or another member of the family clears an aisle.  The godmother carries the baby and follows the clergyman; the other two godparents walk behind her, and all three stand near the font.  At the proper moment the clergyman takes the baby, baptizes it and hands it back to the godmother, who holds it until the ceremony is over.

=THE CHRISTENING DRESS=