Away in the fields where life and death Hang poised in the scales that tip with a breath. "O Father of Mercies, protect the heart

Of him I love from the foeman's dart;

When the death-bolts rain on the charging field,
Be thou his strength and guide and shield!"

A mangled corpse and a soldier's grave
Was the answer the Father of Mercies gave.

The night was dark on the ocean's breast,
And the waves rolled high in wild unrest,
Where a stately bark was dashing on

Toward a breaker's crest, with her rudder gone.
Around the capstan, in wild despair,

The crew had gathered, and joined in prayer
To Him who only had power to save,
To deliver them from a watery grave.

A crash and a gulping wave alone,

Were the answers of the Omnipotent One.

At noon of night, in the city's heart,
When slumber reigned o'er home and mart,
The fire-fiend burst from his secret place,
And wrapped all things in his fierce embrace.
O, then how many a frenzied prayer

To heaven for safety, rent the air!

For homes! for lives! for loves-and then

The flames that crisped them sneered, "Amen."

Homes, friends, and loved ones, crisped and charred, Told how Heaven the prayer had heard.

From the earliest dawn of Nature's birth,

Since sorrow and sin first darkened the earth;

From sun to sun, from pole to pole,

Where'er the waves of Humanity roll,

The breezy robe this planet wears

Has quivered and echoed with countless prayers.
Each hour a million knees are bent,

A million prayers to Heaven are sent;
There's not a summer beam but sees
Some humble suppliant on his knees;
There's not a breeze that murmurs by
But wafts some faithful prayer on high;
There's not a woe afflicts our race

But some one bears to the Throne of Grace;
And for every temptation our souls may meet
We ask for grace at the Mercy Seat.

The beams smile on, and heaven serene
Still bends, as though no prayers had been,
And the breezes moan, as still they wave,
"When man is powerless, Heaven cannot save."
-Charles Stephenson..

To make up a full assortment of prayers and invocations, we add the following, which was made by PROF. W. CHENEY at San Jose, California, in March, 1874, when in debate with an orthodox, the editor of The World's Crisis, who, at the opening of one of the meetings, had made a formal prayer to Jehovah. Prof. Cheney followed suit in this

PRAYER TO THE DEVIL.

O, Lucifer, bearer of Light! O, Beelzebub, Lord of Scorpions! O, Belial, Lord of the Opposite! O, Baal Peor, Lord of the Opening! O, Hades, God of Orcus! O, Devil, Prince of Demons in the Christian Hell! O, thou monarch of the Bottomless Pit! Thou king of Scorpions having stings in their tails, to whom it is given to hurt the earth for five months, I beseech thee to hear my prayer!

Thou seest the terrible strait in which I am placed, matched in debate with one of the big guns of Christianity, with every advantage against me save that I have truth on my side. Thou knowest, Old Bull's Head. that according to all history, thy reign has

been most glorious and triumphant. Thou knowest, Old Cloven Foot, that by thy wondrous power thou hast in all times possessed the hearts of Christians with a mad fury so that they have slaughtered more than seventy millions of men, women, and children, since the dawn of the present era.

Remember, O Prince of Brimstone, that when thou stretchest forth thine arm, the Christian's God cannot stand before thee for a moment. Therefore we beseech thee to stand by us on this occasion. Bless thy servant in his labors before thee. Fill his mouth with words of wisdom. Enable him to defend thee

from the false charges about to be made against 1 thy Sulphurous Majesty, and to triumph by truth and logic over his opponent, so that this audience may realize that thou art a prayer-hearing and prayeranswering Devil. Finally, when he has done and suffered thy will on this earth, receive him graciously into thy warm dominions; assign him plenty of brimstone, turn him often with thy fork, and roast him eternally. And thine shall be the kingdom, the power, and the glory, worlds without end. Serenely thinę.

Marriage Services.

Matrimony is one of the most important and most sacred compacts into which human beings can enter. It is the joining together for the term of life, for weal or woe, of two trusting, loving hearts, a male and a female.

From man's earliest existence upon this planet-in all classes and in all the natural divisions of the earth some form of marriage has been used. It is not divine in any other sense than all that pertains to humanity is divine, and a clergyman, priest, or magistrate is by no means essential in solemnizing it. As it is a contract for life, and as a desire for offspring and a happy life with a loved companion are the incentives which lead to it too much care and discretion cannot be exercised in the choice made. Let it not be hastily nor thoughtlessly performed. Let not blind passion be the ruling influence in taking this important step. Let both parties to the union be as thoroughly informed as possible of their own needs and the needs of their proposed companion. Temperaments, mental qualities and dispositions should be well studied, and the choice should be made after due deliberation. Once made and the decisive step is taken, every effort should be exercised by both parties to keep alive and perpetuate the love that led them together.

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Courting should not be dropped when the marriage service is performed; but life should be one prolonged season of courtship. Let each strive to anticipate the wishes of the other, and let each feel more intent on contributing to the happiness of the other than in seeking his own. Let it always be remembered that our happiness is increased by making those around us happy. Love begets love; affection increases affection; kind words induce kind words from others.

Friends, strive never to give nor take offense. Cultivate an equitable frame of mind. Avoid using unnecessary censure and saying or doing that which is calculated to wound the feelings of each other. So shall your paths.be in pleasant places, and so shall your lives be crowned with peace and happiness.

D. M. B.

Remarks on Marriage, etc.

The customs of a country are the outgrowth of religious, rather than the intellectual convictions of its people; and as all the religions of the past have been founded more or less on superstition, none are free from its baleful influence-nowhere, up to the present time, has the human mind been allowed to develop naturally, unbiased by the dogmas of some creed.

The policy of the church has ever been to acquire complete control of the individual, commencing at the baptismal font and ending only when his body is consigned to earth consecrated by her priests. The babe is met on the threshold of existence, and