who officiates, or themselves, as the case may be), the same being with their mutual consent publicly announced by them on said occasion. We further certify that they were of sufficient age to consent to the same, and that we were respectively present and witnessed the ceremony. Witness our hands and seals this day of Signed FORM 7. 18. H. B. B. Gravitation, aggregation, cohesion, affinity, combination, in the lower world, and attraction, courtship, marriage, harmony, happiness, this is the order of nature in the human world. Our father, Sun, sends his light and heat-his benediction-upon our mother, Earth. The sunbeam kisses the flower, and it blossoms into fragrant beauty. The dew drop sparkles in brilliancy and the flower embraces it in his bosum. The sunshine unites with the earth, and it teems with life and blossoms like a nosegay. Love is marriage-marriage is union-union is harmony, and harmony is heaven. God is Love; what Love [God] hath joined together, no man may put asunder: and interference for that purpose is the "unpardonable sin." Man should be the representative and exponent of wisdom; woman of love, and their union is the 1 harmony and glory of earth. John.-Will you in wisdom, guide, guard, respect and ever cherish, and be ever faithful to this loved and loving woman, whose life and fortunes you wish to have interwoven with your own during your mutual life? Answer.-"I will." Mary.-Will you esteem, comfort, and as far as pos prejudice and religious bigotry prevent the realization of this object. Hence it is our duty to surround the child with influences that will enable him to avoid those evils. Viewing this emblem of innocence, we recognize lineaments of love and simplicity, which are an index to the goodness of its nature. The germs of virtue are here awaiting judicious cultivation, that they may bud forth and ripen into moral fruit. Youth is impressible. The conduct of children, in after life, is generally a reflex of their early education. Encircle them with pure influences, place before them examples of integrity, foster the desire for excellence which is allied with human affections at the dawn of life, you will thereby open the avenues to the purest instincts of their nature, and knit a bond of union between them and their parents which all the turmoil of life and strife of the world will fail to sever. to win the affections of children with love, not repel them with fear; inspire hope and joy, awaken not dread and despair. The infant mind is sensitive, and requires to be irradiated with smiles, not darkened with gloom. Parental indifference, harsh treatment, and cruel frowns produce stultified intellects and unpleasant dispositions; but kindness, care, and forbearance evoke intelligence and cheerfulness of conduct. Seek We sincerely hope that in after life [here name the child] he [if the child be a girl, substitute the feminine gender] may have reason to rejoice in his fellowship with us. May the principles of Freethought enable him to brave successfully the battle of life. And as he sails o'er the billows of time, may exper ience increase his guiding power, that when arriving at maturity, he shall have acquired sufficient knowledge to enable him to regulate aright his further career. And when the evening of his existence has arrived, may he obtain consolation from the reflection that his conduct has won the approval of the wise and the good, and that to the best of his ability he has been faithful to the mission of life. CHARLES WATTS. ON THE BIRTH OF AN INFANT. Joy to thy parents, O mayest thou be found; Goodness attend thee wherever thou go, Sweetness resembling the flow'rets of spring, Sunbeams of wisdom illumine thy day; Knowledge engage thee its wonders to scan; Funeral Services. There are probably no forms of services more needed for the use of Liberals and Spiritualists than those for Funerals. Death is sure, sooner or later to visit each member of the human family; and when our friends do pass away it is desirable that the last rites, before the burial of the body, should be performed in consonance with our own feelings and the desires of the deceased. Nothing is more repugnant to the sensibilities of those who have no confidence in the superstitions of the Christian Church or veneration for her fables and myths than to be compelled to employ a "blackcoated, white-cravated gentleman" to perform his mummeries over the body of a dear departed friend, to talk about the necessity of "having an interest in the blood of Jesus," the great needs for a confiding faith in his atonement" in order to obtain a seat in heaven; and to consign, perhaps indirectly, our loved friend to the regions of fire and sulphur. 66 It is desirable on all hands that we be no longer placed under the necessity of employing this class of men to help bury our departed relatives and friends. To aid in this movement a number of forms of funeral services are here given, from which Liberals of all shades will be able to make a selection. These can be read at our funerals as an appropriate auxil 64 iary to the solemnities of the occasion, and they will answer all the purposes that a funeral sermon from the best Christian clergyman could accomplish. A good, impressive reader should be selected. Such parts as are deemed inappropriate can be easily omitted, and such additions can be made as the case requires. If deemed best, two of the forms can be used on one occasion or parts of two at least, as well as one or more of the poems. Bryant's Thanatopsis" is always beautiful and well adapted for funeral occasions. D. M. B. 66 FORM 1. [Delivered at the funeral of Max Stein, Oct. 21, 1876.] KIND FRIENDS: This is one of the saddest hours in our life's experience. There is no time so solemn as the hour of death; no service so mournful as when, on occasions like the present, we meet to perform our last duties to a dear and loved friend. It is not mournful because of any danger that may be thought to await him who has just left us, or that he has passed into a state of suffering or unhappiness. It is not because we have a belief in any such chimera that we mourn at this time. Our sadness arises from the necessity of parting with one so manly, so true, so sincere, so amiable, so gentle and so kind as he whose remains now lie before us. A good man has gone; one of whom it may well be said, “None knew him but to love him.” He was a correct and conscientious citizen, a just and faithful friend. It is indeed a heavy loss we are called to sustain. Such men as he was are, unfortunately, too scarce |