Page:Infants in Heaven.pdf/7

 that man is approved for heaven or condemned to hell, before his birth, or even before the creation of the world! Then there are others who teach Baptismal Regeneration, and declare that, unless a child be baptized by an authorized person, he cannot be saved! Others again teach, that however a child may be predestinated, or baptized, his soul, and the soul of every other being, will have to tarry in the cold grave, and be unconscious until the general resurrection! While others have a very indistinct view, and sometimes describe the departed soul as having gone to heaven, and in the enjoyment of all its beatitudes, yet at other times they describe this same soul as liable to be brought from thence, to undergo resurrection and judgment, no doubt to see whether he be fit for heaven or not, just as if God had made some mistake in sending him thither in the first instance! And lastly, some have imagined a place, which they call Limbo, which is supposed to be on the confines of hell, and a place of neither pleasure nor pain; it is believed that the souls of unbaptized infants are all gathered into this neutral place, where they must remain for ever.

The disconsolate mother may be taught any of these views, or all of them may be placed before her, and sometimes are, so that she may adopt that which is most agreeable to her feelings. But