Note 232 — Chapter III · SUMMARY.

Cott. MS., Caligula, B. vi. Before a babe was baptized in ancient times it was only ranked as a little animal, baptisms raising it to the dignity and privileges of a human being. At this day, if you ask a peasant in Bretagne, or a contadina of Italy, after the welfare of her new-born infant, if it is before baptism, she has no better term for it than “my creature.” But after baptism, until the child has begun to sin, it is viewed with great respect as a stainless Christian soul. Queen Margaret’s meaning is derived from such ideas.