A WORLD PRAYER

PRESIDENT WILSON has issued a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to pray for the peace of Europe, and setting the day of Sunday, October 4, as the date for such concerted petition.

For the assistance of any who may care to use it, I submit the following Prayer for the World:

Almighty God, Thou are He that ruleth the heavens, the earth, and the hearts of men. Forgive the sins of pride, of hatred, and of anger, of which the world is guilty.

Teach us to love justice and not power, service and not rule, helpfulness and not rivalry.

Enlighten the minds of the people, so that they will not allow the few to dispose of the lives of the many.

Bring about the triumph of government by

the people, of the people, and for the people all over the earth.

Cure the curse of class and caste and establish in nations' councils the value of every human soul.

Rebuke and remove them that advise war, glory in war, and make instruments for war. Hasten the day of world federation and co-operation.

May there speedily be but one army and one navy, to keep the world peace, and may all nations ground arms.

Reveal to men that the enfeebling or the destruction of one nation works harm to all, and that the prosperity of one is the prosperity of all.

Destroy race hatred and revenge, and teach the nations to esteem each other.

So bring home to men's bosoms the crime, the folly, and the waste of war that they may allow no nation to prepare for it.

May men obey always and everywhere Thy command, "Thou shalt not kill!"

Remove those dead ideas and lifeless old beliefs that chain the world to the stupidity of militarism.

Destroy all passions that separate nations, and bring them into mutual love.

Comfort and bless the wounded and sick,

the widows and orphans, the ruined and desolate, victims of the world's great crime.

Forgive this wicked and ignorant world, Almighty God, end soon this war, and so lead us into common sense that we shall never have another.

Let humanity and justice so prevail that all men and nations everywhere shall work for and with each other; then

"Shall all men's good

Be each man's rule, and universal peace
Lie like a shaft of light across the land,
And like a lane of beams athwart the sea,
Thro' all the circle of the golden year."

Thursday, September 10, 1914.

THE BUGHAUS IDEA

ONCE upon a time there was a planet as thickly populated as our own. They had nations and governments, as we have.

But the most of the people were insane. There were a few sane persons, who were kept locked up in asylums.

One day two nations decided to go to war. They had a long series of disputes, extending over many years; they thoroughly hated one another, each had a large army spoiling for a fight, and war was about due.

Just as they were ready to come to grips Prime Minister Wildhead, who had the reputation of being the craziest man in the world, called a meeting of the two governmental cabinets; they met at Bughaus, and Wildhead laid a proposition before them, as follows:

"We two nations," he said, winking slyly at M. Batzin Belfry, the other premier, "are about to go to war. That means that we will butcher some hundred thousand men, ruin our commerce, give business a setback that

will be felt for fifty years, destroy property, make myriads of widows and orphans, and so on. It will be hard on us both, as war is usually as disastrous to the victor as to the vanquished.

"After we get done, we will call a number of diplomats together and arrange a treaty of peace.

"I SUGGEST, THEREFORE, THAT WE DRAW UP A TREATY OF PEACE NOW, AND SAVE ALL THE WAR WASTE."

"Fine!" said M. Batzin Belfry.

"Why hasn't anybody thought of that before?" shouted King Jinks.

"Of course," continued Wildhead, "we cannot hope to get along without killing somebody. We all feel the need of adventure, of tearing loose once in a while and smashing things. That is human nature. We must not be Utopian dreamers.

"Patriotism cannot subsist on a vegetarian diet. The people must have blood. Our cannibalistic instincts must be sated.

"Hence I propose that each country select, say, 10,000 persons. And instead of the strong, healthy, and fit men of each nation, let us pick out the feeble, diseased, beggared, and deficient, the tramps and prisoners, the