Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-07
HUMoRs OF CHRIsTENINGs.
Stories of Funny Things That Have
Happened at the Baptismal Font.

From London TftB
The principal person at a christening is
generally too young to take any active part
in the ceremony beyond crying loudly
without which. in some localities, the chris
tening is not considered lucky the baby
likelihood of good fortune being measured
by the vigor of his crying. But at the very
first service of the kind at which the writer
officiated tho recipient of the bapttsmal
name distinguished himself and brought
confusion the bashful and inexperienced
young parson of those long-ago days; for
it was not until long after that memorable
first baptism that 1 lost all fear of dropping
the infant and a notion that baby is kept
together by its clothes and may at any
moment fall to pieces II not very carefully
handled. 1t was double event; that is to
say, two children of the same family were
presented for baptism together.
In another case well known to me eight
children of one family had been saved up
and seven were marched to church as an
escort to the eighth. and all were baptized
together-thc father afterward intimating
that the vicar ought to knock summat
Off the fees on the usua! principle OF "a
reduction for quantities, like" In my case
there were only two and l found one of
them too many for my peace of mind
for he-a boy of some three years of age
startled and amused the congregation and
COMPOUNDED me when in the act of sprin-
king the water on his brow by Justify sing
ing out: Here. drop 1t, will yer"' Perhaps
the protest was natural, but ii was highly
Gisconcerting.
Generally however, the recipient of the
lame is quiescent-except in the matter of
irresponsible yelling-but the parents occa-
sionally furnish much amusement; and espe-
cially is the demand made to them Name
this child sometimes provocative of very
queer responses, indeed.
/ am not now referring to the extraordinary
combinations of high-sounding names with
which some ambitious parents burden their
offspring, though now and then they are
sufficiently mirth-provoking, particularly
when prefixed to an ultra-plebeian surname.
Florence Bertha Madelaine Victoria Snag-
gles''-the homogeneous title rings in my
memory after many years-is case in
point. The surname. by the way. was not
"Snaggles.' but it was quite as full of
bathos as that.
| have it on the authority of an entirely
veracous clerical friend that on one occa-
sion he was staggered on saying Name this
child" by the response, "Iucifer-as he
thought WHAT" he asked. "Luthy. sir
repeated the lisping and now blushing moth
err and this time my friend grasped the sit
uation and dealt with the infant Lucy ac-
cordingly.
One child was actually christened and reg
istered Robert Honly,'' instead of plain
Robert" on account of his mothers anX-
iety to prevent the addition of a second
name The clergyman had not quite caught
what she said and asked for repetition
Robert" said the parent. and then. fear
ing lest the parsons defective nearing
should result in error. she FASTENED to say:
Robert Honly" The III made all the
difference.
One curious case came under my notice in
the Midlands many years ago. When asked
for the child's name, the village matron re-
Piled Sienna tea or what sounded like 1t.
The astonshcd cleric asked for repetition
of the name. Again came more distinctly
than before: ''Se6na-tea." There was a
pause and general bewilderment At length
the pew opener hit the solution. and. bend
ing toward the perplexed clergyman, she
whispered: "She means Sinnetta,' sir" and
all went well.
The explanation was simple and romantic.
Sinnetta was the name of gypsy buried In
a neighboring churchyard. The handsome
gypsy girl had been wooed and won by an
aristocrat, but had pinned away and died.
Her heart-broken husband had her buried
hear his hall and placed over her a plain
white marble tomb bearing the simple name
"Sinnetta." Possibly moved by the romance
certainly attracted by the unusual name,
the good woman wished her child to be so
called.
The following is almost too strange to be
believer. it actually happened. nevertheless:
The baby was proudly borne. amid admir-