CHILDREN'S DAY.

BY REV. J.E. SMITH.

The 9th of June last was a grand day for the young people in the First Congregational Church at Chattanooga. The church was tastefully decorated with appropriate Scripture mottoes, choice evergreens, beautiful flowers and sweet singing canaries. There was present a large number of adults and a larger number of clean, sweet, hopeful children, and many laughing, cooing babes in the arms of their Christian parents, who like faithful Hannah and good Mary of old, had brought their babes to the house of God to present them to the Lord. After the rendering of a beautiful voluntary by the organist, the whole congregation joined in singing that grand hymn, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!" The pastor then read a few passages of Scripture selected for the occasion, giving a short comment on the same, and prayed for God's blessing on the young. While the congregation joined heartily in singing, "Heavenly Father, send Thy blessing, On Thy children gathered here," Christian parents who desired to present their offspring to the Lord, having been invited, came forward and stood before the altar with their little ones in their arms. Six bright-eyed, innocent babes were, on the faith of their believing parents, consecrated to God in the Christian ordinance of infant baptism. It was a most beautiful, pleasing and impressive service.

After singing, "Take my life and let it be, Consecrated, Lord, to Thee," the pastor invited all children, calling them by name, who were ten years of age and had been baptized in the church when infants, to come forward. The church, then, through its pastor, at a cost of twenty-three dollars, presented to each child, (nineteen in number) a beautiful, well-bound copy of the Bible, with the following written on the fly leaf: "This Bible was presented to —— by the First Congregational Church at Chattanooga, in commemoration of his infant consecration to God at her sacred altar, by his Christian parents. John 5:39."

After taking a collection of ten dollars and twenty-four cents for the Congregational Sunday-school and Publishing Society, we sang "God be with you till we meet again," and the benediction was pronounced. Thus, a very interesting and we trust profitable service of an hour and twenty minutes was ended.