diff options
Diffstat (limited to '18908-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 18908-h/18908-h.htm | 9119 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18908-h/images/002.png | bin | 0 -> 10271 bytes |
2 files changed, 9119 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/18908-h/18908-h.htm b/18908-h/18908-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4c9d99c --- /dev/null +++ b/18908-h/18908-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9119 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Christmas, by Robert Haven Schauffler</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + border: solid black; + height: 5px; } + pre {font-size: small;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Christmas, by Various, Edited by Robert Haven +Schauffler</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Christmas</p> +<p> Its Origin, Celebration and Significance as Related in Prose and Verse</p> +<p>Author: Various</p> +<p>Editor: Robert Haven Schauffler</p> +<p>Release Date: July 25, 2006 [eBook #18908]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTMAS***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by David Starner, Jeffrey Johnson,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net/)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p><b>OUR AMERICAN HOLIDAYS</b></p> +<p><i>Edited by</i></p> +<p>ROBERT HAVEN SCHAUFFLER</p> +<p>AND OTHERS</p> + +<p>A series of anthologies for the use of students and teachers in schools +and colleges; consisting of the best verse, plays, stories, addresses, +special articles, orations, etc. Applicable to the holidays listed as +follows:</p> + +<table summary="This table is a listing of books in the Our American Holidays series."> + +<tr><td>CHRISTMAS</td><td><i>December 25th</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>DEMOCRACY DAYS</td></tr> +<tr><td>EASTER</td><td><i>March or April</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>GOOD WILL DAYS</td></tr> +<tr><td>HALLOWE'EN</td><td><i>October 31st</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>INDEPENDENCE DAY</td><td><i>July 4th</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY</td><td><i>February 12th</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>THE MAGIC OF BOOKS</td><td><i>Book Week</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>THE MAGIC OF MUSIC</td><td><i>Music Week</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>MEMORIAL DAY</td><td><i>May 30th</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>MOTHER'S DAY</td><td><i>Second Sunday in May</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>PAN-AMERICAN DAY</td><td><i>April 14th</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>PEACE DAYS</td></tr> +<tr><td>ROOSEVELT DAY</td><td><i>October 27th</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>THANKSGIVING</td><td><i>Last Thursday in November</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY</td><td><i>February 22nd</i></td></tr> + +</table> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<center><b>OUR AMERICAN HOLIDAYS</b></center> +<h1>CHRISTMAS</h1> +<h2>ITS ORIGIN, CELEBRATION +AND SIGNIFICANCE AS RELATED +IN PROSE AND VERSE</h2> + +<h3>EDITED BY +ROBERT HAVEN SCHAUFFLER</h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 264px;"> +<img src="images/002.png" width="264" height="309" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<center>NEW YORK +DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY +1968</center> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<center>COPYRIGHT 1907 BY +DODD, MEAD & COMPANY</center> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<table summary = "This Table is the Table of Contents."> + +<tr><th colspan="2"><a href="#NOTE"><b>NOTE</b></a></th></tr> +<tr><th colspan="2"><a href="#PREFACE"><b>PREFACE</b></a></th></tr> +<tr><th colspan="2"><a href="#INTRODUCTION"><b>INTRODUCTION</b></a></th></tr> + +<tr><th colspan="2"><b>I</b><br /><a href="#I">ORIGIN</a></th></tr> + +<tr> + <td><a href="#IS_THERE_A_SANTA_CLAUS">Is There a Santa Claus?</a></td> + <td><i>F.P. Church</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#O_LITTLE_TOWN_OF_BETHLEHEM">O Little Town of Bethlehem</a></td> + <td><i>Phillips Brooks</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_GLAD_EVANGEL">The Glad Evangel</a></td> + <td><i>Kate Douglas Wiggin</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_SHEPHERDS">The Shepherds</a></td> + <td><i>William Drummond</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_CAROL">A Christmas Carol</a></td> + <td><i>James Russell Lowell</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_HYMN">A Christmas Hymn</a></td> + <td><i>Alfred Domett</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#BRIGHTEST_AND_BEST_OF_THE_SONS_OF_THE_MORNING">Sons of the Morning</a></td> + <td><i>Reginald Heber</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#GOD_REST_YE_MERRY_GENTLEMEN">God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen</a></td> + <td><i>Dinah Maria Mulock</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_CHRISTMAS_SILENCE">The Christmas Silence</a></td> + <td><i>Margaret Deland</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_LULLABY">A Christmas Lullaby</a></td> + <td><i>John Addington Symonds</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#HYMN_FOR_THE_NATIVITY">Hymn for the Nativity</a></td> + <td><i>Edward Thring</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#MASTERS_IN_THIS_HALL">Masters in this Hall</a></td> + <td><i>Anonymous</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_ADORATION_OF_THE_WISE_MEN">The Adoration of the Wise Men</a></td> + <td><i>Cecil Frances Alexander</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_SHEPHERDS_IN_JUDEA">The Shepherds in Judea</a></td> + <td><i>Mary Austin</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_CAROL">Christmas Carol</a></td> + <td><i>James S. Park</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#NEIGHBORS_OF_THE_CHRIST_NIGHT">Neighbors of the Christ Night</a></td> + <td><i>Nora Archibald Smith</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CRADLE_HYMN">Cradle Hymn</a></td> + <td><i>Isaac Watts</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#AN_ODE_ON_THE_BIRTH_OF_OUR_SAVIOUR">An Ode on the Birth of Our Saviour</a></td> + <td><i>Robert Herrick</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_SONG">Christmas Song</a></td> + <td><i>Edmund Hamilton Sears</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_HYMN_ON_THE_NATIVITY_OF_MY_SAVIOUR">A Hymn on the Nativity of My Saviour</a></td> + <td><i>Ben Jonson</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_SHEPHERDS_SONG">The Shepherd's Song</a></td> + <td><i>Edmund Bolton</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_CAROLII">A Christmas Carol</a></td> + <td><i>Aubrey de Vere</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_HYMNII">A Christmas Hymn</a></td> + <td><i>Anon</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_DAY">Christmas Day</a></td> + <td><i>Charles Wesley</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS">Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Anonymous</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMASII">Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Nahum Tate</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td>"<a href="#WHILE_SHEPHERDS_WATCHED_THEIR_FLOCKS_BY_NIGHT">While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night</a>"</td> + <td><i>Margaret Deland</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#COLONIAL_CHRISTMASES">Colonial Christmases</a></td> + <td><i>Alice Morse Earle</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_ANGELS">The Angels</a></td> + <td><i>William Drummond</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#HYMN_FOR_CHRISTMAS">Hymn for Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Felicia Hemans</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#NEW_PRINCE_NEW_POMP">New Prince, New Pomp</a></td> + <td><i>Robert Southwell</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_THREE_KINGS">The Three Kings</a></td> + <td><i>Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#HYMN_ON_THE_NATIVITY">Hymn on the Nativity</a></td> + <td><i>John Milton</i></td></tr> + + +<tr><th colspan="2"><b>II</b><br /><a href="#II">CELEBRATION</a></th></tr> + + +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_EVE_AT_MR_WARDLES">Christmas Eve at Mr. Wardle's</a></td> + <td><i>Charles Dickens</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_VISIT_FROM_ST_NICHOLAS">A Visit from St. Nicholas</a></td> + <td><i>Clement C. Moore</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_PIECE">A Christmas Piece</a></td> + <td><i>Fred S. Cozzens</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#WASSAILERS_SONG">Wassailer's Song</a></td> + <td><i>Robert Southwell</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_EVE">Christmas Eve</a></td> + <td><i>Hamilton Wright Mabie</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_IN_THE_OLDEN_TIME">Christmas In The Olden Time</a></td> + <td><i>Walter Scott</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#SLY_SANTA_CLAUS">Sly Santa Claus</a></td> + <td><i>Mrs. C.S. Stone</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_WAITS">The Waits</a></td> + <td><i>Margaret Deland</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_KNIGHTING_OF_THE_SIRLOIN_OF_BEEF_BY_CHARLES_THE_SECOND">The Knighting of the Sirloin</a></td> + <td><i>Anonymous</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_CHRISTMAS_GOOSE_AT_THE_CRATCHITS">The Christmas Goose at the Cratchits'</a></td> + <td><i>Charles Dickens</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#GOD_BLESS_US_EVERY_ONE">God Bless Us Every One</a></td> + <td><i>James Whitcomb Riley</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#BELLS_ACROSS_THE_SNOWS">Bells Across the Snow</a></td> + <td><i>Frances Ridley Havergal</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_BELLS">Christmas Bells</a></td> + <td><i>Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#MINSTRELS_AND_MAIDS">Minstrels and Maids</a></td> + <td><i>William Morris</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#INEXHAUSTIBILITY_OF_THE_SUBJECT_OF_CHRISTMAS">Inexhaustibility of the Subject of Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Leigh Hunt</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#SONG_OF_THE_HOLLY">Song of the Holly</a></td> + <td><i>William Shakespeare</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#UNDER_THE_HOLLY-BOUGH">Under the Holly-Bough</a></td> + <td><i>Charles Mackay</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CEREMONIES_FOR_CHRISTMAS">Ceremonies for Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Robert Herrick</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#SANTA_CLAUS">Santa Claus</a></td> + <td><i>Anonymous</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_CEREMONIES_FOR_CHRISTMAS_DAY">The Ceremonies for Christmas Day</a></td> + <td><i>Robert Herrick</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#DECEMBER">December</a></td> + <td><i>Harriet F. Blodgett</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_FESTIVAL_OF_ST_NICHOLAS">The Festival of St. Nicholas</a></td> + <td><i>Mary Mapes Dodge</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_CHRISTMAS_HOLLY">The Christmas Holly</a></td> + <td><i>Eliza Cook</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#TO_THE_FIR-TREE">To the Fir-Tree</a></td> + <td><i>From the German</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_MAHOGANY-TREE">The Mahogany-Tree</a></td> + <td><i>William Makepeace Thackeray</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMASIV">Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Washington Irving</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHURCH_DECKING_AT_CHRISTMAS">Church Decking at Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>William Wordsworth</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#SO_NOW_IS_COME_OUR_JOYFULST_FEAST">So, Now is Come Our Joyful'st Feast</a></td> + <td><i>George Wither</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#FAIRY_FACES">Fairy Faces</a></td> + <td><i>Anonymous</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#MERRY_CHRISTMAS">Merry Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Anonymous</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_MERRY_CHRISTMAS_TO_YOU">A Merry Christmas to You</a></td> + <td><i>Theodore Ledyard Cuyler</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_BELLSII">Christmas Bells</a></td> + <td><i>Anonymous</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_BIRTH_OF_CHRIST">The Birth of Christ</a></td> + <td><i>Alfred Tennyson</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_CHRISTMAS_CAROL">The Christmas Carol</a></td> + <td><i>William Wordsworth</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_AT_FEZZIWIGS_WAREHOUSE">Christmas at Fezziwig's Warehouse</a></td> + <td><i>Charles Dickens</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_BELLSIII">Christmas Bells</a></td> + <td><i>John Keble</i></td></tr> + + +<tr><th colspan="2"><b>III</b><br /><a href="#III">SIGNIFICANCE AND SPIRIT</a></th></tr> + + +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_CARMEN">A Christmas Carmen</a></td> + <td><i>John G. Whittier</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_SPIRIT_OF_CHRISTMAS">The Spirit Of Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Charles Dickens</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#ON_GOOD_WISHES_AT_CHRISTMAS">On Good Wishes at Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Friswell</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_SONG">A Christmas Song</a></td> + <td><i>William Cox Bennett</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#SERY">Sery</a></td> + <td><i>Richard Watson Gilder</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_SONGII">A Christmas Song</a></td> + <td><i>Tudor Jenks</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMASVII">Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Alexander Smith</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_CAROLII">Christmas Carol</a></td> + <td><i>Phillips Brooks</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_END_OF_THE_PLAY">The End of the Play</a></td> + <td><i>William Makepeace Thackeray</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTS_NATIVITY">Christ's Nativity</a></td> + <td><i>Henry Vaughan</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_DREAMS">Christmas Dreams</a></td> + <td><i>Christopher North</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#KEEPING_CHRISTMAS">Keeping Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Henry Van Dyke</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#MARK_WELL_MY_HEAVY_DOLEFUL_TALE">Mark Well My Heavy, Doleful Tale</a></td> + <td><i>Anonymous</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_CAROLIII">A Christmas Carol</a></td> + <td><i>Christina G. Rossetti</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_GLORIOUS_SONG_OF_OLD">The Glorious Song of Old</a></td> + <td><i>Edmund H. Sears</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_CAROL_FOR_CHILDRE">A Christmas Carol for Children</a></td> + <td><i>Martin Luther</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#ON_SANTA_CLAUS">On Santa Claus</a></td> + <td><i>George A. Baker, Jr</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_CAROLIV">A Christmas Carol</a></td> + <td><i>Josiah Gilbert Holland</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#AN_OFFERTORY">An Offertory</a></td> + <td><i>Mary Mapes Dodge</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_SONGIII">Christmas Song</a></td> + <td><i>Lydia A.C. Ward</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_CARO">A Christmas Carol</a></td> + <td><i>Christian Burke</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_SIMPLE_BILL_OF_FARE_FOR_A_CHRISTMAS_DINNE">A Simple Bill of Fare for a Christmas Dinner</a></td> + <td><i>H.H</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_BALLADE_OF_OLD_LOVES">A Ballade of Old Loves</a></td> + <td><i>Carolyn Wells</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#BALLADE_OF_CHRISTMAS_GHOSTS">Ballade of Christmas Ghosts</a></td> + <td><i>Andrew Lang</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#HANG_UP_THE_BABYS_STOCKING">Hang Up the Baby's Stocking</a></td> + <td>[Emily Huntington Miller]</td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_NEWEST_THING_IN_CHRISTMAS_CAROLS">The Newest Thing in Christmas Carols</a></td> + <td><i>Anonymous</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_LETTER_FROM_AUSTRALIA">A Christmas Letter from Australia</a></td> + <td><i>Douglas Sladen</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#CHRISTMASIII">Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Rose Terry Cooke</i></td></tr> + + +<tr><th colspan="2"><b>IV</b><br /><a href="#IV">STORIES</a></th></tr> + + +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_FIR_TREE">The Fir Tree</a></td> + <td><i>Hans Christian Andersen</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#LITTLE_ROGERS_NIGHT_IN_THE_CHURCH">Little Roger's Night in the Church</a></td> + <td><i>Susan Coolidge</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#MR_BLUFFS_EXPERIENCES_OF_HOLIDAYS">Mr. Bluff's Experiences of Holidays</a></td> + <td><i>Oliver Bell Bunce</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#SANTA_CLAUS_AT_SIMPSONS_BAR">Santa Claus at Simpson's Bar</a></td> + <td><i>Bret Harte</i></td></tr> + + +<tr><th colspan="2"><b>V</b><br /><a href="#V">OLD CAROLS AND EXERCISES</a></th></tr> + + +<tr><td><a href="#GOD_REST_YOU_MERRY_GENTLEMEN">God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#OLD_CHRISTMAS_RETURNED">Old Christmas Returned</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_CAROLV">Christmas Carol</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#IN_EXCELSIS_GLORIA">In Excelsis Gloria</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#THE_BOARS_HEAD_CAROL">The Boar's Head Carol</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#CHRISTMAS_CAROLVI">Christmas Carol</a></td></tr> + + +<tr><th colspan="2"><a href="#ADDITIONAL_PIECES"><b>ADDITIONAL PIECES</b></a><br /></th></tr> + + +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_CHRISTMAS_INSURRECTION">A Christmas Insurrection</a></td> + <td><i>Anne P.L. Field</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_NIGHT_AFTER_CHRISTMAS">The Night After Christmas</a></td> + <td><i>Anne P.L. Field</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#WHEN_THE_STARS_OF_MORNING_SANG">When the Stars of Morning San</a>g</td> + <td><i>Anne P.L. Field</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#A_PRAYER_AT_BETHLEHEM">A Prayer at Bethlehem</a></td> + <td><i>Anne P.L. Field</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_CHRISTMAS_FIRES">The Christmas Fires</a></td> + <td><i>Anne P.L. Field</i></td></tr> +<tr> + <td><a href="#THE_MOTHER">The Mother (A Story)</a></td> + <td><i>Robert Haven Schauffler</i></td></tr> + +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="NOTE" id="NOTE"></a>NOTE</h2> + +<p>The Publishers desire to acknowledge the kindness of Messrs. Charles +Scribner's Sons; Houghton, Mifflin and Company; Little, Brown and +Company; Dodd, Mead and Company; Bobbs-Merrill Company and others, who +have granted us permission to reproduce selections from works bearing +their copyright.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> + +<p>Christmas is our most important holiday, and its literature is +correspondingly rich. Yet until now no adequate bundle of Christmas +treasures in poetry and prose has found its way into the library of +Santa Claus.</p> + +<p>While this book brings to children of all ages, in school and at home, +the best lyrics, carols, essays, plays and stories of Christmas, its +scope is yet wider. For the Introduction gives a rapid view of the +holiday's origin and development, its relation to cognate pagan +festivals, the customs and symbols of its observance in different lands, +and the significance and spirit of the day. This Introduction endeavors +to be as suggestive as possible to parents and teachers who are +personally conducted and introduced to the host of writers learned and +quaint, human and pedantic, humorous and brilliant and profound, who +have dealt technically with this fascinating subject.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2> + +<p>It was the habit of him whose birthday we celebrate to take what was +good in men and remould it to higher uses. And so it is peculiarly +fitting that the anniversary of Christmas, when it was first celebrated +in the second century of our era should have taken from heathen +mythology and customs the more beautiful parts for its own use. +"Christmas," says Dean Stanley, "brings before us the relations of the +Christian religion to the religions which went before; for the birth at +Bethlehem was itself a link with the past."</p> + +<p>The pagan nations of antiquity<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> always had a tendency to worship the +sun, under different names, as the giver of light and life. And their +festivals in its honor took place near the winter solstice, the shortest +day in the year, when the sun in December begins its upward course, +thrilling men with the first distant promise of spring. This holiday was +called <i>Saturnalia</i> among the Romans and was marked by great merriment +and licence which extended even to the slaves. There were feasting and +gifts and the houses were hung with evergreens. A more barbarous form of +these rejoicings took place among the rude peoples of the north where +great blocks of wood blazed in honor of Odin and Thor, and sacrifices of +men and cattle were made to them. Mistletoe was cut then from the sacred +oaks with a golden sickle by the Prince of the Druids, between whom and +the Fire-Worshippers of Persia there was an affinity both in character +and customs.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> An account of the early history of Christmas may be found +in Chamber's Book of Days.</p></div> + +<p>The ancient Goths and Saxons called this festival Yule, which is +preserved to us in the Scottish word for Christmas and also in the name +of the Yule Log. The ancient Teutons celebrated the season by decking a +fir tree, for they thought of the sun, riding higher and higher in the +heavens, as the spreading and blossoming of a great tree. Thus our own +Christmas fir was decked as a symbol of the celestial sun tree. The +lights, according to Professor Schwartz, represent the flashes of +lightning overhead, the golden apples, nuts and balls symbolize the sun, +the moon and the stars, while the little animals hung in the branches +betoken sacrifices made in gratitude to the sun god.<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> A delightful account of the origin of the Christmas tree +may be found in Elise Traut's Christmas in Heart and Home.</p></div> + +<p>As Christianity replaced paganism, the Christians, in the tolerant +spirit of their Master, adopted these beautiful old usages, merely +changing their spirit. So that the Lord of Misrule who long presided +over the Christmas games of Christian England was the direct descendant +of the ruler who was appointed, with considerable prerogatives, to +preside over the sports of the Saturnalia. In this connection the narrow +Puritan author of the "Histrio-Mastix" laments: "If we compare our +Bacchanalian Christmasses with these Saturnalia, we shall find such a +near affinitye between them, both in regard to time and in manner of +solemnizing, that we must needs conclude the one to be but the very +issue of the other."</p> + +<p>"Merrie old England," writes Walsh,<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> "was the soil in which Merrie +Christmas took its firmest root." Even in Anglo-Saxon days we hear of +Alfred holding high revelry in December, 878, so that he allowed the +Danes to surprise him, cut his army to pieces and send him a fugitive. +The court revelries increased in splendor after the conquest. Christmas, +it must be remembered was not then a single day of sport. It had the +preliminary novena which began December 16, and it ended on January 6, +or Twelfth Night. All this period was devoted to holiday making.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> Curiosities of Popular Customs.</p></div> + +<p>It was a democratic festival. All classes mixed in its merry-makings. +Hospitality was universal. An English country gentleman of the fifteenth +and sixteenth centuries held open house. With daybreak on Christmas +morning the tenants and neighbors thronged into the hall. The ale was +broached. Blackjacks and Cheshire cheese, with toast and sugar and +nutmeg, went plentifully round. The Hackin, or great sausage, must be +boiled at daybreak, and if it failed to be ready two young men took the +cook by the arm and ran her around the market-place till she was ashamed +of her laziness.</p> + +<p>With the rise of Puritanism the very existence of Christmas was +threatened. Even the harmless good cheer of that season was looked upon +as pagan, or, what was worse, Popish. 'Into what a stupendous <i>height</i> +of more than pagan impiety,' cried Prynne (...) 'have we not now +<i>degenerated!</i> Prynne's rhetoric, it will be seen, is not without an +unconscious charm of humor. He complained that the England of his day +could not celebrate Christmas or any other festival 'without drinking, +roaring, healthing, dicing, carding, dancing, masques and stage-plays +(...) which Turkes and Infidels would abhor to practise.'</p> + +<p>Puritanism brought over with it in the Mayflower the anti-Christmas +feeling to New England. So early as 1621 Governor Bradford was called +upon to administer a rebuke to 'certain lusty yonge men' who had just +come over in the little ship Fortune. 'On ye day called Christmas day,' +says William Bradford, 'ye Gov<sup>r</sup> caled them out to worke (as was used), +but ye most of this new company excused themselves and said it went +against their consciences to worke on ye day. So ye Gov<sup>r</sup> tould them +that if they made it matter of conscience, he would spare them till they +were better informed. So he led away ye rest, and left them; but when +they came home at noone from their worke, he found them in ye streete at +play, openly: some pitching ye barr, and some at stoole-ball and such +like sports. So he went to them and tooke away their implements, and +tould them that it was against his conscience that they should play and +others worke. If they made ye keeping of it matter of devotion, let them +kepe their houses, but ther should be no gameing or revelling in ye +streets. Since which time nothing hath been attempted that way, at least +openly.'</p> + +<p>In England the feeling culminated in 1643, when the Roundhead Parliament +abolished the observance of saints' days and "the three grand festivals" +of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, "any law, statute, custom, +constitution, or canon to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding." The +king protested. But he was answered. In London, nevertheless, there was +an alarming disposition to observe Christmas. The mob attacked those who +by opening their shops flouted the holiday. In several counties the +disorder was threatening. But Parliament adopted strong measures, and +during the twelve years in which the great festivals were +discountenanced there was no further tumult, and the observance of +Christmas as a general holiday ceased.</p> + +<p>The General Court of Massachusetts followed the example of the English +Parliament in 1659 when it enacted that 'anybody who is found observing, +by abstinence from labor, feasting, or any other way, any such day as +Christmas day, shall pay for every such offense five shillings.'</p> + +<p>The restoration of English royalty brought about the restoration of the +English Christmas. It was not till 1681, however, that Massachusetts +repealed the ordinance of 1659. But the repeal was bitter to old +Puritanism, which kept up an ever attenuating protest even down to the +early part of the present century.</p> + +<p>There are many superstitions connected with the coming of Christmas +itself. The bees are said to sing, the cattle to kneel, in honor of the +manger, and the sheep to go in procession in commemoration of the visit +of the angel to the shepherds.</p> + +<p>Howison in his "Sketches of Upper Canada" relates that on one moonlit +Christmas Eve he saw an Indian creeping cautiously through the woods. In +response to an inquiry, he said. 'Me watch to see deer kneel. Christmas +night all deer kneel and look up to Great Spirit.'</p> + +<p>In the German Alps it is believed that the cattle have the gift of +language on Christmas Eve. But it is a sin to attempt to play the +eavesdropper upon them. An Alpine story is told of a farmer's servant +who did not believe that the cattle could speak, and, to make sure, he +hid in his master's stable on Christmas Eve and listened. When the clock +struck twelve he was surprised at what he heard. 'We shall have hard +work to do this day week,' said one horse. 'Yes; the farmer's servant is +heavy,' answered the other horse. 'And the way to the churchyard is long +and steep,' said the first. The servant was buried that day week.</p> + +<p>There is a beautiful superstition about the cock that Shakespeare put +into the mouth of Marcellus, in <i>Hamlet</i>—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Some say, that ever 'gainst that season comes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The bird of dawning singeth all night long:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And then, they say, no spirit can walk abroad;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So hallow'd and so gracious is the time."</span><br /> + +<p>No other holiday has so rich an heritage of old customs and observances +as Christmas. The Yule Log has from time immemorial been haled to the +open fire-place on Christmas Eve, and lighted with the embers of its +predecessor to sanctify the roof-tree and protect it against those evil +spirits over whom the season is in everyway a triumph. Then the wassail +bowl full of swimming roasted apples, goes its merry round. Then the +gift-shadowing Christmas tree sheds its divine brilliance down the path +of the coming year; or stockings are hung for Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) +to fill during the night. Then the mistletoe becomes a precarious +shelter for maids, and the Waits—descendants of the minstrels of +old—go through the snow from door to door, singing their mellow old +carols, while masquerades and the merry Christmas game of Snapdragon are +not forgotten.<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> An exhaustive study of the history and customs of Christmas +has been made by W.F. Dawson in "Christmas and its Associations."</p></div> + +<p>Even the Christmas dinner has its special observances. In many an +English hall the stately custom still survives of bearing in a boar's +head to inaugurate the meal, as a reminder of the student of Queens +College, Oxford, who, attacked by a boar on Christmas day, choked him +with a copy of Aristotle and took his head back for dinner. The mince +pie, sacred to the occasion, is supposed to commemorate in its mixture +of oriental ingredients the offerings made by the wise men of the East. +As for turkey and plum pudding, they have a deep significance, but it is +clearer to the palate than to the brain.</p> + +<p>Elise Traut relates the legend that on every Christmas eve the little +Christ-child wanders all over the world bearing on its shoulders a +bundle of evergreens. Through city streets and country lanes, up and +down hill, to proudest castle and lowliest hovel, through cold and storm +and sleet and ice, this holy child travels, to be welcomed or rejected +at the doors at which he pleads for succor. Those who would invite him +and long for his coming set a lighted candle in the window to guide him +on his way hither. They also believe that he comes to them in the guise +of any alms-craving, wandering person who knocks humbly at their doors +for sustenance, thus testing their benevolence. In many places the aid +rendered the beggar is looked upon as hospitality shown to Christ.</p> + +<p>This legend embodies the true Christmas spirit which realizes, with a +rush of love to the heart, the divinity in every one of "the least of +these" our brethren. Selfishness is rebuked, the feeling of universal +brotherhood is fostered, while the length of this holiday season by +encouraging the reunion of families and of friends, provides a wonderful +rallying place for early affections. A wholesome and joyous current of +religious feeling flows through the entire season to temper its +extravagance and regulate its mirth.</p> + +<p>"Under the sanctions of religion," writes Hervey,<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> "the covenants of +the heart are renewed.... The lovers of Earth seem to have met +together."</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> For a beautiful and extended discussion of the significance +of the day, see Hervey's "The Book of Christmas."</p></div> + +<p>Christmas is the birthday of one whose chief contribution to the human +heart and mind was his message of boundless, universal love, He brought +to the world the greatest thing in the world and that is why the season +of his birth has won such an intimate place in our hearts and why its +jubilant bells find this echo there:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Ring out the old, ring in the new,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring, happy bells, across the snow;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The year is going, let him go;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ring out the false, ring in the true.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Ring out the grief that saps the mind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For those that here we see no more;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring out the feud of rich and poor,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ring in redress to all mankind.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Ring out a slowly dying cause,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And ancient forms of party strife;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring in the nobler modes of life,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With sweeter manners, purer laws.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Ring out the want, the care, the sin,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The faithless coldness of the times;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But ring the fuller minstrel in.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Ring out false pride in place and blood,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The civic slander and the spite;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring in the love of truth and right,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ring in the common love of good.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Ring out old shapes of foul disease;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring out the thousand wars of old,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ring in the thousand years of peace.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Ring in the valiant man and free,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The larger heart, the kindlier hand;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring out the darkness of the land,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ring in the Christ that is to be."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">R.H.S.</span><br /> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="I" id="I">I</a></h2> + +<h2>ORIGIN</h2> + + + +<p><b><a name="IS_THERE_A_SANTA_CLAUS" id="IS_THERE_A_SANTA_CLAUS"></a>IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS?</b></p> + +<p><i>The following, reprinted from the editorial page of the New York Sun, +was written by the late Mr. Frank P. Church:</i></p> + + +<p>We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the +communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification +that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of <i>The Sun</i>:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Dear Editor: I am 8 years old.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Papa says "If you see it in <i>The Sun </i>it's so."</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 23.5em;">Virginia O'Hanlon.</span><br /> + +<p>Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the +scepticism of a sceptical age. They do not believe except they see. They +think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little +minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are +little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in +his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as +measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and +knowledge.</p> + +<p>Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love +and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and +give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be +the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if +there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no +poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no +enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which +childhood fills the world would be extinguished.</p> + +<p>Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! +You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on +Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa +Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but +that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in +the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever +see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that +they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there +are unseen and unseeable in the world.</p> + +<p>You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise +inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the +strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men +that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, +romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal +beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world +there is nothing else real and abiding.</p> + +<p>No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand +years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he +will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="O_LITTLE_TOWN_OF_BETHLEHEM" id="O_LITTLE_TOWN_OF_BETHLEHEM"></a>O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">PHILLIPS BROOKS</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O little town of Bethlehem,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">How still we see thee lie!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Above thy deep and dreamless sleep</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The silent stars go by;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet in thy dark streets shineth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The everlasting Light;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The hopes and fears of all the years</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Are met in thee to-night.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For Christ is born of Mary,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And, gathered all above,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While mortals sleep, the angels keep</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Their watch of wondering love.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O morning stars, together</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Proclaim the holy birth!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And praises sing to God the King,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And peace to men on earth.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How silently, how silently,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The wondrous gift is given!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So God imparts to human hearts</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The blessings of His heaven.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No ear may hear His coming,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But in this world of sin,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where meek souls will receive Him still,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The dear Christ enters in.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O holy Child of Bethlehem!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Descend to us, we pray;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Cast out our sin, and enter in,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Be born in us to-day.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We hear the Christmas angels</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The great glad tidings tell;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, come to us, abide with us,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Our Lord Emmanuel!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_GLAD_EVANGEL" id="THE_GLAD_EVANGEL"></a>THE GLAD EVANGEL</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN</span><br /></p> + +<p>When the Child of Nazareth was born, the sun, according to the Bosnian +legend, "leaped in the heavens, and the stars around it danced. A peace +came over mountain and forest. Even the rotten stump stood straight and +healthy on the green hill-side. The grass was beflowered with open +blossoms, incense sweet as myrrh pervaded upland and forest, birds sang +on the mountain top, and all gave thanks to the great God."</p> + +<p>It is naught but an old folk-tale, but it has truth hidden at its heart, +for a strange, subtle force, a spirit of genial good-will, a new-born +kindness, seem to animate child and man alike when the world pays its +tribute to the "heaven-sent youngling," as the poet Drummond calls the +infant Christ.</p> + +<p>When the Three Wise Men rode from the East into the West on that "first, +best Christmas night," they bore on their saddle-bows three caskets +filled with gold and frankincense and myrrh, to be laid at the feet of +the manger-cradled babe of Bethlehem. Beginning with this old, old +journey, the spirit of giving crept into the world's heart. As the Magi +came bearing gifts, so do we also; gifts that relieve want, gifts that +are sweet and fragrant with friendship, gifts that breathe love, gifts +that mean service, gifts inspired still by the star that shone over the +City of David nearly two thousand years ago.</p> + +<p>Then hang the green coronet of the Christmas-tree with glittering +baubles and jewels of flame; heap offerings on its emerald branches; +bring the Yule log to the firing; deck the house with holly and +mistletoe,</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"And all the bells on earth shall ring</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On Christmas day in the morning."</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_SHEPHERDS" id="THE_SHEPHERDS"></a>THE SHEPHERDS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">WILLIAM DRUMMOND, OF HAWTHORNDEN</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O than the fairest day, thrice fairer night!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Night to blest days in which a sun doth rise</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of which that golden eye which clears the skies</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is but a sparkling ray, a shadow-light!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And blessed ye, in silly pastor's sight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Mild creatures, in whose warm crib now lies</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That heaven-sent youngling, holy-maid-born wight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Midst, end, beginning of our prophecies!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Blest cottage that hath flowers in winter spread,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Though withered—blessed grass that hath the grace</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To deck and be a carpet to that place!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thus sang, unto the sounds of oaten reed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Before the Babe, the shepherds bowed on knees;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And springs ran nectar, honey dropped from trees.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_CAROL" id="A_CHRISTMAS_CAROL"></a>A CHRISTMAS CAROL</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"What means this glory round our feet,"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Magi mused, "more bright than morn?"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And voices chanted clear and sweet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"To-day the Prince of Peace is born!"</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"What means that star," the Shepherds said,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"That brightens through the rocky glen?"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And angels, answering overhead,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sang, "Peace on earth, good-will to men!"</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis eighteen hundred years and more</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Since those sweet oracles were dumb;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We wait for Him, like them of yore;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Alas, He seems so slow to come!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But it was said, in words of gold,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">No time or sorrow e'er shall dim,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That little children might be bold</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In perfect trust to come to Him.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All round about our feet shall shine</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A light like that the wise men saw,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If we our loving wills incline</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To that sweet Life which is the Law.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So shall we learn to understand</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The simple faith of shepherds then,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And, clasping kindly hand in hand,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing, "Peace on earth, good-will to men!"</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But they who do their souls no wrong,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But keep at eve the faith of morn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall daily hear the angel-song,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"To-day the Prince of Peace is born!"</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_HYMN" id="A_CHRISTMAS_HYMN"></a>A CHRISTMAS HYMN</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ALFRED DOMETT</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It was the calm and silent night!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Seven hundred years and fifty-three</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Had Rome been growing up to might,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And now was Queen of land and sea.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No sound was heard of clashing wars;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Peace brooded o'er the hush'd domain;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Apollo, Pallas, Jove and Mars,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Held undisturb'd their ancient reign,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">In the solemn midnight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">Centuries ago.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'T was in the calm and silent night!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The senator of haughty Rome</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Impatient urged his chariot's flight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From lordly revel rolling home.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Triumphal arches gleaming swell</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">His breast with thoughts of boundless sway;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What reck'd the Roman what befell</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A paltry province far away,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">In the solemn midnight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Centuries ago!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Within that province far away</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Went plodding home a weary boor:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A streak of light before him lay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Fall'n through a half-shut stable door</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Across his path. He pass'd—for nought</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Told what was going on within;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How keen the stars! his only thought;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The air how calm and cold and thin,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">In the solemn midnight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Centuries ago!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O strange indifference!—low and high</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Drows'd over common joys and cares:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The earth was still—but knew not why;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The world was listening—unawares.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How calm a moment may precede</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">One that shall thrill the world for ever!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To that still moment none would heed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Man's doom was link'd, no more to sever,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">In the solemn midnight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Centuries ago.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It <i>is</i> the calm and solemn night</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A thousand bells ring out, and throw</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Their joyous peals abroad, and smite</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The darkness, charm'd and holy now.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The night that erst no name had worn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To it a happy name is given;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For in that stable lay new-born</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The peaceful Prince of Earth and Heaven,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">In the solemn midnight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">Centuries ago.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="BRIGHTEST_AND_BEST_OF_THE_SONS_OF_THE_MORNING" id="BRIGHTEST_AND_BEST_OF_THE_SONS_OF_THE_MORNING"></a>BRIGHTEST AND BEST OF THE SONS OF THE MORNING</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">REGINALD HEBER</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Brightest and best of the Sons of the morning!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Star of the East, the horizon adorning,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Guide where our Infant Redeemer is laid!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Maker and Monarch and Saviour of all!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Odors of Edom and offerings divine?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Vainly we offer each ample oblation;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Vainly with gifts would His favor secure:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Richer by far is the heart's adoration;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Brightest and best of the Sons of the morning!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Star of the East, the horizon adorning,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Guide where our Infant Redeemer is laid!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="GOD_REST_YE_MERRY_GENTLEMEN" id="GOD_REST_YE_MERRY_GENTLEMEN"></a>GOD REST YE, MERRY GENTLEMEN</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">DINAH MARIA MULOCK</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God rest ye, merry gentlemen; let nothing you dismay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was born on Christmas-day.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The dawn rose red o'er Bethlehem, the stars shone through the gray,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was born on Christmas-day.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God rest ye, little children; let nothing you affright,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For Jesus Christ, your Saviour, was born this happy night;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Along the hills of Galilee the white flocks sleeping lay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When Christ, the child of Nazareth, was born on Christmas-day.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God rest ye, all good Christians; upon this blessed morn</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Lord of all good Christians was of a woman born:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now all your sorrows He doth heal, your sins He takes away;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was born on Christmas-day.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_CHRISTMAS_SILENCE" id="THE_CHRISTMAS_SILENCE"></a>THE CHRISTMAS SILENCE</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">MARGARET DELAND</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hushed are the pigeons cooing low</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On dusty rafters of the loft;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And mild-eyed oxen, breathing soft,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sleep on the fragrant hay below.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Dim shadows in the corner hide;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The glimmering lantern's rays are shed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where one young lamb just lifts his head,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then huddles 'gainst his mother's side.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Strange silence tingles in the air;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Through the half-open door a bar</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of light from one low-hanging star</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Touches a baby's radiant hair.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No sound: the mother, kneeling, lays</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Her cheek against the little face.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Oh human love! Oh heavenly grace!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis yet in silence that she prays!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ages of silence end to-night;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Then to the long-expectant earth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Glad angels come to greet His birth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In burst of music, love, and light!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_LULLABY" id="A_CHRISTMAS_LULLABY"></a>A CHRISTMAS LULLABY</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS</span><br /> +</p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sleep, baby, sleep! The Mother sings:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Heaven's angels kneel and fold their wings.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Sleep, baby, sleep!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With swathes of scented hay Thy bed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By Mary's hand at eve was spread.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Sleep, baby, sleep!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At midnight came the shepherds, they</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whom seraphs wakened by the way.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Sleep, baby, sleep!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And three kings from the East afar,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ere dawn came, guided by the star.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Sleep, baby, sleep!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They brought Thee gifts of gold and gems,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pure orient pearls, rich diadems.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Sleep, baby, sleep!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thou who liest slumbering there,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Art King of Kings, earth, ocean, air.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Sleep, baby, sleep!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sleep, baby, sleep! The shepherds sing:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Through heaven, through earth, hosannas ring.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Sleep, baby, sleep!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="HYMN_FOR_THE_NATIVITY" id="HYMN_FOR_THE_NATIVITY"></a>HYMN FOR THE NATIVITY</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">EDWARD THRING</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Happy night and happy silence downward softly stealing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Softly stealing over land and sea,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Stars from golden censors swing a silent eager feeling</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Down on Judah, down on Galilee;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all the wistful air, and earth, and sky,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Listened, listened for the gladness of a cry.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Holy night, a sudden flash of light its way is winging:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Angels, angels, all above, around;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hark, the angel voices, hark, the angel voices singing;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the sheep are lying on the ground.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lo, all the wistful air, and earth, and sky,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Listen, listen to the gladness of the cry.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Happy night at Bethlehem; soft little hands are feeling,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Feeling in the manger with the kine:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little hands, and eyelids closed in sleep, while angels kneeling,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Mary mother, hymn the Babe Divine.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lo, all the wistful air, and earth, and sky,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Listen, listen to the gladness of the cry.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Wide, as if the light were music, flashes adoration:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Glory be to God, nor ever cease,"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All the silence thrills, and speeds the message of salvation:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Peace on earth, good-will to men of peace."</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lo, all the wistful air, and earth, and sky,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Listen, listen to the gladness of the cry.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Holy night, thy solemn silence evermore enfoldeth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Angels songs and peace from God on high:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Holy night, thy watcher still with faithful eye beholdeth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Wings that wave, and angel glory nigh,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lo, hushed is strife in air, and earth, and sky,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Still thy watchers hear the gladness of the cry.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Praise Him, ye who watch the night, the silent night of ages:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Praise Him, shepherds, praise the Holy Child;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Praise Him, ye who hear the light, O praise Him, all ye sages;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Praise Him, children, praise Him meek and mild.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lo, peace on Earth, glory to God on high,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Listen, listen to the gladness of the cry.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="MASTERS_IN_THIS_HALL" id="MASTERS_IN_THIS_HALL"></a>MASTERS IN THIS HALL</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANONYMOUS</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"To Bethlem did they go, the shepherds three;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To Bethlem did they go to see whe'r it were so or no,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whether Christ were born or no</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">To set men free."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Masters, in this hall,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Hear ye news to-day</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Brought over sea,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And ever I you pray.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12.5em;"><i>Nowell! Nowell! Nowell! Nowell!</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 14em;"><i>Sing we clear!</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;"><i>Holpen are all folk on earth,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 14em;"><i>Born is God's Son so dear</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Going over the hills,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Through the milk-white snow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Heard I ewes bleat</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">While the wind did blow.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Nowell, &c.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Shepherds many an one</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Sat among the sheep;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">No man spake more word</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Than they had been asleep.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Nowell, &c.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Quoth I 'Fellows mine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Why this guise sit ye?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Making but dull cheer,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Shepherds though ye be?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Nowell, &c.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">'Shepherds should of right</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Leap and dance and sing;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Thus to see ye sit</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Is a right strange thing.'</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Nowell, &c.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Quoth these fellows then</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">'To Bethlem town we go,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">To see a Mighty Lord</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Lie in manger low.'</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Nowell, &c.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">'How name ye this Lord,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Shepherds?' then said I.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">'Very God' they said,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">'Come from Heaven high.'</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Nowell, &c.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Then to Bethlem town</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">We went two and two,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And in a sorry place</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Heard the oxen low.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Nowell, &c.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Therein did we see</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">A sweet and goodly May,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And a fair old man;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Upon the straw she lay.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Nowell, &c.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And a little CHILD</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">On her arm had she;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">'Wot ye who this is?'</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Said the hinds to me.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Nowell, &c.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Ox and ass him know,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Kneeling on their knee:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Wondrous joy had I</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">This little BABE to see.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Nowell, &c.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">This is CHRIST the Lord,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Masters, be ye glad!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Christmas is come in,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And no folk should be sad.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Nowell, &c.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_ADORATION_OF_THE_WISE_MEN" id="THE_ADORATION_OF_THE_WISE_MEN"></a>THE ADORATION OF THE WISE MEN</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Saw you never in the twilight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When the sun had left the skies,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Up in heaven the clear stars shining,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Through the gloom like silver eyes?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So of old the wise men watching,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Saw a little stranger star,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And they knew the King was given,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And they follow'd it from far.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Heard you never of the story,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">How they cross'd the desert wild,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Journey'd on by plain and mountain,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Till they found the Holy Child?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How they open'd all their treasure,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Kneeling to that Infant King,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gave the gold and fragrant incense,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Gave the myrrh in offering?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Know ye not that lowly Baby</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Was the bright and morning star,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He who came to light the Gentiles,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the darken'd isles afar?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And we too may seek his cradle,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">There our heart's best treasures bring,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Love, and Faith, and true devotion,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For our Saviour, God, and King.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_SHEPHERDS_IN_JUDEA" id="THE_SHEPHERDS_IN_JUDEA"></a>THE SHEPHERDS IN JUDEA</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">MARY AUSTIN</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Oh, the Shepherds in Judea,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">They are pacing to and fro,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">For the air grows chill at twilight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And the weanling lambs are slow!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Leave, O lambs, the dripping sedges, quit the bramble and the brier,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Leave the fields of barley stubble, for we light the watching fire;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Twinkling fires across the twilight, and a bitter watch to keep,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lest the prowlers come a-thieving where the flocks unguarded sleep.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Oh, the Shepherds in Judea,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">They are singing soft and low—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Song the blessed angels taught them</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">All the centuries ago!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There was never roof to hide them, there were never walls to bind;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Stark they lie beneath the star-beams, whom the blessed angels find,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With the huddled flocks upstarting, wondering if they hear aright,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While the Kings come riding, riding, solemn shadows in the night.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Oh, the Shepherds in Judea,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">They are thinking, as they go,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Of the light that broke their watching</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">On the hillside in the snow!—</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Scattered snow along the hillside, white as springtime fleeces are,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With the whiter wings above them and the glory-streaming star—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Guiding-star across the housetops; never fear the Shepherds felt</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Till they found the Babe in manger where the kindly cattle knelt.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Oh, the Shepherds in Judea!—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Do you think the Shepherds know</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">How the whole round earth is brightened</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">In the ruddy Christmas glow?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How the sighs are lost in laughter, and the laughter brings the tears,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As the thoughts of men go seeking back across the darkling years</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Till they find the wayside stable that the star-led Wise Men found,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With the Shepherds, mute, adoring, and the glory shining round!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_CAROL" id="CHRISTMAS_CAROL"></a>CHRISTMAS CAROL</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">JAMES S. PARK</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So crowded was the little town</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On the first Christmas day,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tired Mary Mother laid her down</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To rest upon the hay.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(Ah, would my door might have been thrown</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Wide open on her way!)</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But when the Holy Babe was born</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In the deep hush of night,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It seemed as if a Sabbath morn</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Had come with sacred light.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Child Jesus made the place forlorn</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With his own beauty bright.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The manger rough was all his rest;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The cattle, having fed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Stood silent by, or closer pressed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And gravely wonderèd.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(Ah, Lord, if only that my breast</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Had cradled Thee instead!)</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="NEIGHBORS_OF_THE_CHRIST_NIGHT" id="NEIGHBORS_OF_THE_CHRIST_NIGHT"></a>NEIGHBORS OF THE CHRIST NIGHT</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">NORA ARCHIBALD SMITH</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Deep in the shelter of the cave,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The ass with drooping head</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Stood weary in the shadow, where</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">His master's hand had led.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About the manger oxen lay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Bending a wide-eyed gaze</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Upon the little new-born Babe,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Half worship, half amaze.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">High in the roof the doves were set,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And cooed there, soft and mild,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet not so sweet as, in the hay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Mother to her Child.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The gentle cows breathed fragrant breath</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To keep Babe Jesus warm,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While loud and clear, o'er hill and dale,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The cocks crowed, "Christ is born!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Out in the fields, beneath the stars,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The young lambs sleeping lay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And dreamed that in the manger slept</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Another white as they.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 9.5em;">- - - - -</span><br /> + + + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">These were Thy neighbors, Christmas Child;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To Thee their love was given,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For in Thy baby face there shone</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The wonder-light of Heaven.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CRADLE_HYMN" id="CRADLE_HYMN"></a>CRADLE HYMN</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ISAAC WATTS</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Holy angels guard thy bed;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Heavenly blessings without number</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Gently falling on thy head.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sleep, my babe, thy food and raiment,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">House and home, thy friends provide;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All without thy care, or payment,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All thy wants are well supplied.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How much better thou'rt attended</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Than the Son of God could be,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When from heaven He descended,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And became a child like thee!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Soft and easy is thy cradle;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When His birthplace was a stable,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And His softest bed was hay.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">See the kindly shepherds round him,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Telling wonders from the sky!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When they sought Him, there they found Him,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With his Virgin-Mother by.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">See the lovely babe a-dressing;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Lovely infant, how He smiled!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When He wept, the mother's blessing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Soothed and hushed the holy child.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lo, He slumbers in His manger,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where the honest oxen fed;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">—Peace, my darling! here's no danger!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Here's no ox a-near thy bed!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mayst thou live to know and fear Him,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Trust and love Him all thy days;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then go dwell forever near Him,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">See His face, and sing His praise!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I could give thee thousand kisses,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Hoping what I most desire;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not a mother's fondest wishes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Can to greater joys aspire.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="AN_ODE_ON_THE_BIRTH_OF_OUR_SAVIOUR" id="AN_ODE_ON_THE_BIRTH_OF_OUR_SAVIOUR"></a>AN ODE ON THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOUR</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ROBERT HERRICK</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In numbers, and but these few,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I sing thy birth, O Jesu!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thou pretty baby, born here</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With sup'rabundant scorn here;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who for thy princely port here,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Hadst for thy place</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of birth, a base</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Out-stable for thy court here.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Instead of neat enclosures</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of interwoven osiers,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Instead of fragrant posies</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of daffodils and roses,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thy cradle, kingly stranger,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As gospel tells,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Was nothing else</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But here a homely manger.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But we with silks, not crewels,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With sundry precious jewels,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And lily work will dress thee,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And, as we dispossess thee</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of clouts, we'll make a chamber,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sweet babe, for thee</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of ivory,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And plaster'd round with amber.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_SONG" id="CHRISTMAS_SONG"></a>CHRISTMAS SONG</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">EDMUND HAMILTON SEARS</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Calm on the listening ear of night</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Come heaven's melodious strains,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where wild Judea stretches far</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Her silver-mantled plains;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Celestial choirs from courts above</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Shed sacred glories there;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And angels with their sparkling lyres</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Make music on the air.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The answering hills of Palestine</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Send back the glad reply,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And greet from all their holy heights</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The day-spring from on high:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O'er the blue depths of Galilee</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">There comes a holier calm,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And Sharon waves, in solemn praise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Her silent groves of palm.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Glory to God!" The lofty strain</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The realm of ether fills:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How sweeps the song of solemn joy</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">O'er Judah's sacred hills!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Glory to God!" The sounding skies</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Loud with their anthems ring;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Peace on the earth; good-will to men,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From heaven's eternal King!"</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Light on thy hills, Jerusalem!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Saviour now is born:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">More bright on Bethlehem's joyous plains</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Breaks the first Christmas morn;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And brighter on Moriah's brow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Crowned with her temple-spires,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which first proclaim the new-born light,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Clothed with its Orient fires.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This day shall Christian lips be mute,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And Christian hearts be cold?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, catch the anthem that from heaven</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">O'er Judah's mountains rolled!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When nightly burst from seraph-harps</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The high and solemn lay,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Glory to God! on earth be peace;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Salvation comes to-day!"</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_HYMN_ON_THE_NATIVITY_OF_MY_SAVIOUR" id="A_HYMN_ON_THE_NATIVITY_OF_MY_SAVIOUR"></a>A HYMN ON THE NATIVITY OF MY SAVIOUR</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">BEN JONSON</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I sing the birth was born to-night</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The author both of life and light;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The angels so did sound it.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And like the ravished shepherds said,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who saw the light, and were afraid,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Yet searched, and true they found it.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Son of God, th' eternal king,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That did us all salvation bring,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And freed the soul from danger;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He whom the whole world could not take,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Word, which heaven and earth did make,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Was now laid in a manger.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Father's wisdom willed it so,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Son's obedience knew no No,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Both wills were in one stature;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And as that wisdom had decreed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Word was now made flesh indeed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And took on him our nature.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What comfort by him do we win,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who made himself the price of sin,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To make us heirs of glory!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To see this babe all innocence;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A martyr born in our defence:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Can man forget the story?</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_SHEPHERDS_SONG" id="THE_SHEPHERDS_SONG"></a>THE SHEPHERD'S SONG</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">EDMUND BOLTON</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Sweet music, sweeter far</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Than any song is sweet:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Sweet music, heavenly rare,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Mine ears, O peers, doth greet.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You gentle flocks, whose fleeces pearled with dew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Resemble heaven, whom golden drops make bright,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Listen, O listen, now, O not to you</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Our pipes make sport to shorten weary night:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">But voices most divine</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Make blissful harmony:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Voices that seem to shine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">For what else clears the sky?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tunes can we hear, but not the singers see,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The tunes divine, and so the singers be.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Lo, how the firmament</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Within an azure fold</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The flock of stars hath pent,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">That we might them behold,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet from their beams proceedeth not this light,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nor can their crystals such reflection give.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What then doth make the element so bright?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The heavens are come down upon earth to live</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">But hearken to the song,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Glory to glory's King,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And peace all men among,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">These quiristers do sing.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Angels they are, as also (shepherds) He</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whom in our fear we do admire to see.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Let not amazement blind</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Your souls, said he, annoy:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">To you and all mankind</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">My message bringeth joy.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For lo! the world's great Shepherd now is born,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A blessed Babe, an Infant full of power:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">After long night uprisen is the morn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Renowning Bethlem in the Saviour.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Sprung is the perfect day,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">By prophets seen afar:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Sprung is the mirthful May,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Which winter cannot mar.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In David's city doth this Sun appear</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Clouded in flesh, yet, shepherds, sit we here!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_CAROLII" id="A_CHRISTMAS_CAROLII"></a>A CHRISTMAS CAROL</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">AUBREY DE VERE</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They leave the land of gems and gold,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The shining portals of the East;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For Him, the woman's Seed foretold,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">They leave the revel and the feast.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To earth their sceptres they have cast,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And crowns by kings ancestral worn;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They track the lonely Syrian waste;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">They kneel before the Babe new born.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O happy eyes that saw Him first;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">O happy lips that kissed His feet:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Earth slakes at last her ancient thirst;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With Eden's joy her pulses beat.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">True kings are those who thus forsake</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Their kingdoms for the Eternal King;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Serpent, her foot is on thy neck;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Herod, thou writhest, but canst not sting.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He, He is King, and He alone</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who lifts that infant hand to bless;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who makes His mother's knee His throne,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Yet rules the starry wilderness.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_HYMNII" id="A_CHRISTMAS_HYMNII"></a>A CHRISTMAS HYMN</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANON</span><br /></p> + +<p>Written in the Chapel of the Manger, in the Convent Church of Bethlehem, +Palestine:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the fields where, long ago,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Dropping tears, amid the leaves,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ruth's young feet went to and fro,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Binding up the scattered sheaves,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the field that heard the voice</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of Judea's shepherd King,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Still the gleaners may rejoice,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Still the reapers shout and sing.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For each mount and vale and plain</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Felt the touch of holier feet.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then the gleaners of the grain</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Heard, in voices full and sweet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Peace on earth, good will to men,"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring from angel lips afar,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While, o'er every glade and glen,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Broke the light of Bethlehem's star.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Star of hope to souls in night,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Star of peace above our strife,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Guiding, where the gates of death</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ope to fields of endless life.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Wanderer from the nightly throng</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Which the eastern heavens gem;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Guided, by an angel's song,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To the Babe of Bethlehem.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not Judea's hills alone</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Have earth's weary gleaners trod,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not to heirs of David's throne</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is it given to "reign with God."</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But where'er on His green earth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Heavenly faith and longing are,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Heavenly hope and life have birth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">'Neath the smile of Bethlehem's star.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In each lowly heart or home,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">By each love-watched cradle-bed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where we rest, or where we roam,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Still its changeless light is shed.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In its beams each quickened heart,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Howe'er saddened or denied,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Keeps one little place apart</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For the Hebrew mother's Child.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And that inner temple fair</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">May be holier ground than this,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hallowed by the pilgrim's prayer,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Warmed by many a pilgrim's kiss.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In its shadow still and dim,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where our holiest longings are,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Rings forever Bethlehem's hymn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Shines forever Bethlehem's star.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_DAY" id="CHRISTMAS_DAY"></a>CHRISTMAS DAY</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">CHARLES WESLEY</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hark! the herald angels sing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Glory to the new-born King!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Peace on earth and mercy mild,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God and sinners reconciled.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Joyful all ye nations rise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Join the triumph of the skies,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With the angelic host proclaim</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Christ is born in Bethlehem!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hail the Sun of Righteousness!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Light and life to all he brings,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Risen with healing in his wings.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mild, he lays his glory by;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Born, that man no more may die,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Born to raise the sons of earth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Born to give them second birth.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMAS" id="CHRISTMAS"></a>CHRISTMAS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANON</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Once in Royal David's city</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Stood a lowly cattle shed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where a mother laid her baby</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In a manger for His bed.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mary was that mother mild,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Jesus Christ that little child.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He came down to earth from Heaven,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who is God and Lord of all.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And his shelter was a stable,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And his cradle was a stall.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With the poor and mean and lowly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lived on earth our Saviour Holy.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And our eyes at last shall see Him</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Through His own redeeming love,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For that child so dear and gentle</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is our Lord in Heaven above;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And He leads His children on</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To the place where He is gone.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not in that poor, lowly stable,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With the oxen standing by,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We shall see Him; but in Heaven,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Set at God's right hand on high,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When, like stars, His children crowned</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All in white, shall wait around.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMASII" id="CHRISTMASII"></a>CHRISTMAS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">NAHUM TATE</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While shepherds watch'd their flocks by night,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All seated on the ground,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The angel of the Lord came down,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And glory shone around.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Fear not," said he (for mighty dread</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Had seized their troubled mind);</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Glad tidings of great joy I bring</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To you and all mankind.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"To you, in David's town, this day</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is born of David's line</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Saviour who is Christ the Lord;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And this shall be the sign:</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"The heavenly Babe you there shall find</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To human view display'd,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All meanly wrapt in swathing bands,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And in a manger laid."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thus spake the Seraph; and forthwith</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Appear'd a shining throng</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of angels, praising God, and thus</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Address'd their joyful song:</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"All glory be to God on high,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And to the earth be peace;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Good-will henceforth from heaven to men</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Begin, and never cease!"</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"<b><a name="WHILE_SHEPHERDS_WATCHED_THEIR_FLOCKS_BY_NIGHT" id="WHILE_SHEPHERDS_WATCHED_THEIR_FLOCKS_BY_NIGHT"></a>WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED THEIR FLOCKS BY NIGHT</b>"</span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">MARGARET DELAND</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Like small curled feathers, white and soft,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The little clouds went by,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Across the moon, and past the stars,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And down the western sky:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In upland pastures, where the grass</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With frosted dew was white,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Like snowy clouds the young sheep lay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That first, best Christmas night.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The shepherds slept; and, glimmering faint,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With twist of thin, blue smoke,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Only their fire's crackling flames</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The tender silence broke—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Save when a young lamb raised his head,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Or, when the night wind blew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A nesting bird would softly stir,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where dusky olives grew—</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With finger on her solemn lip,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Night hushed the shadowy earth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And only stars and angels saw</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The little Saviour's birth;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then came such flash of silver light</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Across the bending skies,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The wondering shepherds woke, and hid</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Their frightened, dazzled eyes!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all their gentle sleepy flock</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Looked up, then slept again,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor knew the light that dimmed the stars</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Brought endless Peace to men—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor even heard the gracious words</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That down the ages ring—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Christ is born! the Lord has come,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Good-will on earth to bring!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then o'er the moonlit, misty fields,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Dumb with the world's great joy,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The shepherds sought the white-walled town,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where lay the baby boy—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And oh, the gladness of the world,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The glory of the skies,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Because the longed-for Christ looked up</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In Mary's happy eyes!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="COLONIAL_CHRISTMASES" id="COLONIAL_CHRISTMASES"></a>COLONIAL CHRISTMASES</b></p> + +<p>ALICE MORSE EARLE</p> + +<p>[From "Customs and Fashions in Old New England."]</p> + +<p>The first century of colonial life saw few set times and days for +pleasure. The holy days of the English Church were as a stench to the +Puritan nostrils, and their public celebration was at once rigidly +forbidden by the laws of New England. New holidays were not quickly +evolved, and the sober gatherings for matters of Church and State for a +time took their place. The hatred of "wanton Bacchanallian Christmasses" +spent throughout England, as Cotton said, in "revelling, dicing, +carding, masking, mumming, consumed in compotations, in interludes, in +excess of wine, in mad mirth," was the natural reaction of intelligent +and thoughtful minds against the excesses of a festival which had ceased +to be a Christian holiday, but was dominated by a lord of misrule who +did not hesitate to invade the churches in time of service, in his noisy +revels and sports. English Churchmen long ago revolted also against such +Christmas observance.</p> + +<p>Of the first Pilgrim Christmas we know but little, save that it was +spent, as was many a later one, in work....</p> + +<p>By 1659 the Puritans had grown to hate Christmas more and more; it was, +to use Shakespeare's words, "the bug that feared them all." The very +name smacked to them of incense, stole, and monkish jargon; any person +who observed it as a holiday by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any +other way was to pay five shillings fine, so desirous were they to +"beate down every sprout of Episcopacie." Judge Sewall watched jealously +the feeling of the people with regard to Christmas, and noted with +pleasure on each succeeding year the continuance of common traffic +throughout the day. Such entries as this show his attitude: "Dec. 25, +1685. Carts come to town and shops open as usual. Some somehow observe +the day, but are vexed I believe that the Body of people profane it, and +blessed be God no authority yet to compel them to keep it." When the +Church of England established Christmas services in Boston a few years +later, we find the Judge waging hopeless war against Governor Belcher +over it, and hear him praising his son for not going with other boy +friends to hear the novel and attractive services. He says: "I dehort +mine from Christmas keeping and charge them to forbear."</p> + +<p>Christmas could not be regarded till this century as a New England +holiday, though in certain localities, such as old Narragansett—an +opulent community which was settled by Episcopalians—two weeks of +Christmas visiting and feasting were entered into with zest by both +planters and slaves for many years previous to the revolution.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_ANGELS" id="THE_ANGELS"></a>THE ANGELS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">WILLIAM DRUMMOND</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Run, shepherds, run where Bethlehem blest appears.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We bring the best of news; be not dismayed:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A Saviour there is born more old than years,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Amidst heaven's rolling height this earth who stayed.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In a poor cottage inned, a virgin maid,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A weakling did him bear, who all upbears;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There is he poorly swaddled, in manger laid,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To whom too narrow swaddlings are our spheres:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Run, shepherds, run, and solemnize his birth.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This is that night—no, day, grown great with bliss,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In which the power of Satan broken is:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In heaven be glory, peace unto the earth!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thus singing, through the air the angels swarm,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And cope of stars re-echoèd the same.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or say, if this new Birth of ours</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sleeps, laid within some ark of flowers,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Spangled with dew-light; thou canst clear</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All doubts, and manifest the where.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Declare to us, bright star, if we shall seek</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Him in the morning's blushing cheek,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or search the beds of spices through,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To find him out?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Star</i>.—No, this ye need not do;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But only come and see Him rest,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A princely babe, in's mother's breast.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="HYMN_FOR_CHRISTMAS" id="HYMN_FOR_CHRISTMAS"></a>HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">FELICIA HEMANS</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh! lovely voices of the sky</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Which hymned the Saviour's birth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are ye not singing still on high,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ye that sang, "Peace on earth"?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">To us yet speak the strains</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Wherewith, in time gone by,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Ye blessed the Syrian swains,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Oh! voices of the sky!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh! clear and shining light, whose beams</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That hour Heaven's glory shed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Around the palms, and o'er the streams,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And on the shepherd's head.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Be near, through life and death,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">As in that holiest night</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Of hope, and joy, and faith—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Oh! clear and shining light!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="NEW_PRINCE_NEW_POMP" id="NEW_PRINCE_NEW_POMP"></a>NEW PRINCE, NEW POMP</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ROBERT SOUTHWELL</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Behold a simple, tender Babe,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In freezing winter night,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In homely manger trembling lies;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Alas! a piteous sight.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The inns are full; no man will yield</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This little Pilgrim bed;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But forced he is with silly beasts</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In crib to shroud his head.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Despise him not for lying there;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">First what he is inquire:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">An Orient pearl is often found</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In depth of dirty mire.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Weigh not his crib, his wooden dish,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nor beasts that by him feed;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Weigh not his mother's poor attire,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nor Joseph's simple weed.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This stable is a Prince's court,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The crib his chair of state;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The beasts are parcel of his pomp,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The wooden dish his plate.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The persons in that poor attire</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">His royal liveries wear;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Prince himself is come from heaven:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This pomp is praisèd there.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With joy approach, O Christian wight!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Do homage to thy King;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And highly praise this humble pomp,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Which he from heaven doth bring.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_THREE_KINGS" id="THE_THREE_KINGS"></a>THE THREE KINGS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Three Kings came riding from far away,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Three Wise Men out of the East were they,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And they traveled by night and they slept by day,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The star was so beautiful, large and clear,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That all the other stars of the sky</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Became a white mist in the atmosphere;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And by this they knew that the coming was near</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Three caskets of gold with golden keys;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Their robes were of crimson silk, with rows</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And so the Three Kings rode into the West,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Through the dusk of night over hill and dell,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With the people they met at some wayside well.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Of the child that is born," said Baltasar,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Good people, I pray you, tell us the news;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For we in the East have seen his star,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And have ridden fast, and have ridden far,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To find and worship the King of the Jews."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the people answered, "You ask in vain;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We know of no king but Herod the Great!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They thought the Wise Men were men insane,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As they spurred their horses across the plain</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Like riders in haste who cannot wait.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when they came to Jerusalem,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Herod the Great, who had heard this thing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And said, "Go down unto Bethlehem,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And bring me tidings of this new king."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So they rode away, and the star stood still,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The only one in the gray of morn;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yes, it stopped, it stood still of its own free will,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Right over Bethlehem on the hill,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The city of David where Christ was born.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Through the silent street, till their horses turned</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And neighed as they entered the great inn-yard;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But the windows were closed, and the doors were barred,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And only a light in the stable burned.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And cradled there in the scented hay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In the air made sweet by the breath of kine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The little child in the manger lay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Child that would be King one day</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of a kingdom not human, but divine.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His mother, Mary of Nazareth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sat watching beside his place of rest,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Watching the even flow of his breath,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For the joy of life and the terror of death</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Were mingled together in her breast.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They laid their offerings at his feet:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The gold was their tribute to a King;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The frankincense, with its odor sweet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Was for the Priest, the Paraclete;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The myrrh for the body's burying.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the mother wondered and bowed her head,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And sat as still as a statue of stone;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Her heart was troubled yet comforted,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Remembering what the angel had said</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of an endless reign and of David's throne.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then the Kings rode out of the city gate,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With a clatter of hoofs in proud array;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But they went not back to Herod the Great,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For they knew his malice and feared his hate,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And returned to their homes by another way.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="HYMN_ON_THE_NATIVITY" id="HYMN_ON_THE_NATIVITY"></a>HYMN ON THE NATIVITY</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">JOHN MILTON</span><br /> +</p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It was the winter wild,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While the heaven-born child</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nature, in awe of him,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Had doffed her gaudy trim,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With her great Master so to sympathize:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It was no season then for her</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To wanton with the sun, her lusty paramour.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Only with speeches fair</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She wooes the gentle air,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To hide her guilty front with innocent snow;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And on her naked shame,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pollute with sinful blame,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The saintly veil of maiden-white to throw;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Confounded, that her Maker's eyes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Should look so near upon her foul deformities.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But he, her fears to cease,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sent down the meek-eyed Peace:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">She, crowned with olive green, came softly sliding</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Down through the turning sphere,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His ready harbinger,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With turtle wing the amorous clouds dividing;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And, waving wide her myrtle wand,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She strikes a universal peace through sea and land.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No war or battle's sound</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Was heard the world around:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The idle spear and shield were high uphung;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The hookèd chariot stood</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unstained with hostile blood;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The trumpet spake not to the armèd throng;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And kings sat still with awful eye,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As if they surely knew their sovereign lord was by.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But peaceful was the night,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Wherein the Prince of Light</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">His reign of peace upon the earth began:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The winds, with wonder whist,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Smoothly the waters kissed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whispering new joys to the mild ocean,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who now hath quite forgot to rave,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmèd wave.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The stars, with deep amaze,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Stand fixed in steadfast gaze,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Bending one way their precious influence;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And will not take their flight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For all the morning light,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Or Lucifer had often warned them thence:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But in their glimmering orbs did glow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Until their Lord himself bespake, and bid them go.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And, though the shady gloom</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Had given day her room,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The sun himself withheld his wonted speed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And hid his head for shame.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As his inferior flame</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The new-enlightened world no more should need;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He saw a greater sun appear</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Than his bright throne, or burning axletree, could bear.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The shepherds on the lawn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or ere the point of dawn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sat simply chatting in a rustic row;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Full little thought they then</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That the mighty Pan</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Was kindly come to live with them below;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Perhaps their loves, or else their sheep,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Was all that did their silly thoughts so busy keep.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When such music sweet</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Their hearts and ears did greet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As never was by mortal fingers strook,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Divinely warbled voice</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Answering the stringèd noise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As all their souls in blissful rapture took:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The air, such pleasure loath to lose,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With thousand echoes still prolongs each heavenly close.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nature, that heard such sound,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Beneath the hollow round</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of Cynthia's seat, the airy region thrilling,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now was almost won,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To think her part was done,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And that her reign had here its last fulfilling;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She knew such harmony alone</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Could hold all heaven and earth in happier union.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At last surrounds their sight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A globe of circular light,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That with long beams the shame-faced night arrayed;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The helmèd cherubim,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And sworded seraphim,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Are seen in glittering ranks with wings displayed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Harping in loud and solemn quire,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With unexpressive notes, to Heaven's new-born heir.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Such music as 'tis said</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Before was never made,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But when of old the sons of morning sung,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While the Creator great</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His constellations set,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the well-balanced world on hinges hung,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And cast the dark foundations deep,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And bid the weltering waves their oozy channel keep.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ring out, ye crystal spheres,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Once bless our human ears,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">If ye have power to touch our senses so;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And let your silver chime</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Move in melodious time;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And let the bass of Heaven's deep organ blow;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And, with your ninefold harmony,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Make up full concert to the angelic symphony.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For, if such holy song</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Enwrap our fancy long,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Time will run back, and fetch the age of gold;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And speckled Vanity</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will sicken soon and die,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And leprous Sin will melt from earthly mould;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And Hell itself will pass away,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And leave her dolorous mansions to the peering day.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yea, Truth and Justice then</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will down return to men,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Orbed in a rainbow; and, like glories wearing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mercy will sit between,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Throned in celestial sheen,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With radiant feet the tissued clouds down steering;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And Heaven, as at some festival,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will open wide the gates of her high palace hall.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But wisest Fate says no,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This must not yet be so;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The babe yet lies in smiling infancy,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That on the bitter cross</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Must redeem our loss,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">So both himself and us to glorify:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet first, to those chained in sleep,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The wakeful trump of doom must thunder through the deep,</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With such a horrid clang</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As on Mount Sinai rang,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">While the red fire and smouldering clouds outbrake;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The aged earth aghast,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With terror of that blast,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Shall from the surface to the centre shake;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When, at the world's last session,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The dreadful Judge in middle air shall spread his throne.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And then at last our bliss,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Full and perfect is,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But now begins; for, from this happy day,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The old dragon, underground,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In straiter limits bound,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Not half so far casts his usurpèd sway;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And, wroth to see his kingdom fail,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Swinges the scaly horror of his folded tail.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The oracles are dumb;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No voice or hideous hum</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Runs through the archèd roof in words deceiving.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Apollo from his shrine</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Can no more divine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With hollow shriek the steep of Delphos leaving.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No nightly trance, or breathèd spell,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Inspires the pale-eyed priest from the prophetic cell.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The lonely mountains o'er,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the resounding shore,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A voice of weeping heard and loud lament;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From haunted spring and dale,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Edged with poplar pale,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The parting Genius is with sighing sent;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With flower-inwoven tresses torn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In consecrated earth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And on the holy hearth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Lars and Lemures mourn with midnight plaint.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In urns and altars round,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A drear and dying sound</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Affrights the Flamens at their service quaint;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the chill marble seems to sweat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While each peculiar power foregoes his wonted seat.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Peor and Baälim</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Forsake their temples dim</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With that twice-battered God of Palestine;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And moonèd Ashtaroth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Heaven's queen and mother both,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Now sits not girt with tapers' holy shine;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Libyac Hammon shrinks his horn;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In vain the Tyrian maids their wounded Thammuz mourn.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And sullen Moloch, fled,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hath left in shadows dread</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">His burning idol all of blackest hue:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In vain with cymbals' ring</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They call the grisly king,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In dismal dance about the furnace blue:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The brutish gods of Nile as fast,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Isis, and Orus, and the dog Anubis, haste.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor is Osiris seen</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In Memphian grove or green,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Trampling the unshowered grass with lowings loud;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor can he be at rest</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Within his sacred chest,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Naught but profoundest hell can be his shroud;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In vain with timbrelled anthems dark</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The sable-stolèd sorcerers bear his worshipped ark.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He feels from Judah's land</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The dreaded infant's hand,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The rays of Bethlehem blind his dusky eyne;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor all the gods beside</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Longer dare abide,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Not Typhon huge ending in snaky twine;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our babe, to show his Godhead true,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Can in his swaddling bands control the damnèd crew.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So, when the sun in bed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Curtained with cloudy red,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Pillows his chin upon an orient wave,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The flocking shadows pale</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Troop to the infernal jail,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Each fettered ghost slips to his several grave;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the yellow-skirted fays</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fly after the night-steeds, leaving their moon-loved maze.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But see, the Virgin blest</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hath laid her babe to rest;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Time is our tedious song should here have ending:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Heaven's youngest-teèmed star</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hath fixed her polished car,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Her sleeping Lord with handmaid lamp attending;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all about the courtly stable</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Bright-harnessed angels sit in order serviceable.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2> + +<h2>CELEBRATION</h2> + + + +<p><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_EVE_AT_MR_WARDLES" id="CHRISTMAS_EVE_AT_MR_WARDLES"></a>CHRISTMAS EVE AT MR. WARDLE'S</b></p> + +<p>From "Pickwick Papers"</p> + +<p>CHARLES DICKENS</p> + +<p>From the center of the ceiling of this kitchen, old Wardle had just +suspended with his own hands a huge branch of mistletoe, and this same +branch of mistletoe instantaneously gave rise to a scene of general and +most delightful struggling and confusion; in the midst of which Mr. +Pickwick with a gallantry which would have done honour to a descendant +of Lady Trollimglower herself, took the old lady by the hand, led her +beneath the mystic branch, and saluted her in all courtesy and decorum. +The old lady submitted to this piece of practical politeness with all +the dignity which befitted so important and serious a solemnity, but the +younger ladies not being so thoroughly imbued with a superstitious +veneration of the custom, or imagining that the value of a salute is +very much enhanced if it cost a little trouble to obtain it, screamed +and struggled, and ran into corners, and threatened and remonstrated, +and did everything but leave the room, until some of the less +adventurous gentlemen were on the point of desisting, when they all at +once found it useless to resist any longer, and submitted to be kissed +with a good grace. Mr. Winkle kissed the young lady with the black eyes, +and Mr. Snodgrass kissed Emily; and Mr. Weller, not being particular +about the form of being under the mistletoe, kissed Emma and the other +female servants, just as he caught them. As to the poor relations, they +kissed everybody, not even excepting the plainer portion of the +young-lady visitors, who, in their excessive confusion, ran right under +the mistletoe, directly it was hung up, without knowing it! Wardle stood +with his back to the fire, surveying the whole scene, with the utmost +satisfaction; and the fat boy took the opportunity of appropriating to +his own use, and summarily devouring, a particularly fine mince-pie, +that had been carefully put by for somebody else.</p> + +<p>Now the screaming had subsided, and faces were in a glow and curls in a +tangle, and Mr. Pickwick, after kissing the old lady as before +mentioned, was standing under the mistletoe, looking with a very pleased +countenance on all that was passing around him, when the young lady with +the black eyes, after a little whispering with the other young ladies, +made a sudden dart forward, and, putting her arm around Mr. Pickwick's +neck, saluted him affectionately on the left cheek; and before Mr. +Pickwick distinctly knew what was the matter, he was surrounded by the +whole body, and kissed by every one of them.</p> + +<p>It was a pleasant thing to see Mr. Pickwick in the centre of the group, +now pulled this way, and then that, and first kissed on the chin and +then on the nose, and then on the spectacles, and to hear the peals of +laughter which were raised on every side; but it was a still more +pleasant thing to see Mr. Pickwick, blinded shortly afterwards with a +silk-handkerchief, falling up against the wall, and scrambling into +corners, and going through all the mysteries of blind-man's buff, with +the utmost relish of the game, until at last he caught one of the poor +relations; and then had to evade the blind-man himself, which he did +with a nimbleness and agility that elicited the admiration and applause +of all beholders. The poor relations caught just the people whom they +thought would like it; and when the game flagged, got caught themselves. +When they were all tired of blind-man's buff, there was a great game at +snapdragon, and when fingers enough were burned with that, and all the +raisons gone, they sat down by the huge fire of blazing logs to a +substantial supper, and a mighty bowl of wassail, something smaller than +an ordinary washhouse copper, in which the hot apples were hissing and +bubbling with a rich look, and a jolly sound, that were perfectly +irresistible.</p> + +<p>"This," said Mr. Pickwick, looking round him, "this is, indeed, +comfort."</p> + +<p>"Our invariable custom," replied Mr. Wardle. "Everybody sits down with +us on Christmas eve, as you see them now—servants and all; and here we +wait till the clock strikes twelve, to usher Christmas in, and wile away +the time with forfeits and old stories. Trundle, my boy, rake up the +fire."</p> + +<p>Up flew the bright sparks in myriads as the logs were stirred, and the +deep red blaze sent forth a rich glow, that penetrated into the furthest +corner of the room, and cast its cheerful tint on every face.</p> + +<p>"Come," said Wardle, "a song—a Christmas song. I'll give you one, in +default of a better."</p> + +<p>"Bravo," said Mr. Pickwick.</p> + +<p>"Fill up," cried Wardle. "It will be two hours good, before you see the +bottom of the bowl through the deep rich colour of the wassail; fill up +all round, and now for the song."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, the merry old gentleman, in a good, round, sturdy voice, +commenced without more ado—</p> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b>A CHRISTMAS CAROL</b></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I care not for Spring; on his fickle wing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let the blossoms and buds be borne:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He woos them amain with his treacherous rain,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he scatters them ere the morn.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">An inconstant elf, he knows not himself,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or his own changing mind an hour,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He'll smile in your face, and, with wry grimace,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He'll wither your youngest flower.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let the summer sun to his bright home run,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He shall never be sought by me;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When he's dimmed by a cloud I can laugh aloud,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And care not how sulky he be;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For his darling child is the madness wild</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That sports in fierce fever's train;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when love is too strong, it don't last long,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As many have found to their pain.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A mild harvest night, by the tranquil light</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of the modest and gentle moon,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Has a far sweeter sheen for me, I ween,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Than the broad and unblushing noon,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But every leaf awakens my grief,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As it lieth beneath the tree;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So let Autumn air be never so fair,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It by no means agrees with me.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But my song I troll out, for Christmas stout,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The hearty, the true, and the bold;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A bumper I drain, and with might and main</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Give three cheers for this Christmas old.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We'll usher him in with a merry din</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That shall gladden his joyous heart,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And we'll keep him up while there's bite or sup,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And in fellowship good, we'll part.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In his fine honest pride, he scorns to hide</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">One jot of his hard-weather scars;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They're no disgrace, for there's much the same trace</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On the cheeks of our bravest tars.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then again I sing 'till the roof doth ring,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And it echoes from wall to wall—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To the stout old wight, fair welcome to-night,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As the King of the Seasons all!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_VISIT_FROM_ST_NICHOLAS" id="A_VISIT_FROM_ST_NICHOLAS"></a>A VISIT FROM ST. NICHOLAS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">CLEMENT C. MOORE</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The children were nestled all snug in their beds,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While visions of sugar-plums danced through their heads;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Away to the window I flew like a flash,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The moon, on the breast of the new-fallen snow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gave a lustre of midday to objects below;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When what to my wondering eyes should appear,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With a little old driver, so lively and quick</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he whistled and shouted and called them by name:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now, dash away, dash away, dash away all!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So, up to the house-top the coursers they flew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With a sleigh full of toys,—and St. Nicholas too.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The prancing and pawing of each little hoof,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As I drew in my head and was turning around,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His eyes how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He had a broad face, and a little round belly</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He was chubby and plump,—a right jolly old elf—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A wink of his eye and a twist of his head</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And laying his finger aside of his nose,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And away they all flew like the down of a thistle;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_PIECE" id="A_CHRISTMAS_PIECE"></a>A CHRISTMAS PIECE</b></p> + +<p>Of garnered rhyme, from hidden stores of olden time that since the +language did begin, have welcomed merry Christmas in, and made the +winter nights so long, fleet by on wings of wine and song; for when the +snow is on the roof, the house within is sorrow proof, if yule log +blazes on the hearth, and cups and hearts o'er-brim with mirth. Then +bring the wassail to the board, with nuts and fruit—the winter's hoard; +and bid the children take off shoe, to hang their stockings by the flue; +and let the clear and frosty sky, set out its brightest jewelry, to show +old Santa Claus the road, so he may ease his gimcrack load. And with the +coming of these times, we'll add some old and lusty rhymes, that suit +the festive season well, and sound as sweet as Christmas bell.</p> + +<p>Now just bethink of castle gate, where humble midnight mummers wait, to +try if voices, one and all, can rouse the tipsy seneschal, to give them +bread and beer and brawn, for tidings of the Christmas morn; or bid each +yelper clear his throat, with water of the castle moat, for thus they +used, by snow and torch, to rear their voices at the porch:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 24em;"><i>Fred S. Cozzens</i></span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="WASSAILERS_SONG" id="WASSAILERS_SONG"></a>WASSAILER'S SONG</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ROBERT SOUTHWELL</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Wassail! wassail! all over the town,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our toast it is white, and our ale it is brown;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our bowl is made of a maplin tree;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We be good fellows all;—I drink to thee.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here's to our horse, and to his right ear,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God send master a happy new year;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A happy new year as e'er he did see,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here's to our mare, and to her right eye,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God send our mistress a good Christmas pie;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A good Christmas pie as e'er I did see,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here's to our cow, and to her long tail,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God send our measter us never may fail</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of a cup of good beer: I pray you draw near,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And our jolly wassail it's then you shall hear.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be here any maids? I suppose here be some;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sure they will not let young men stand on the cold stone!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sing hey O, maids! come trole back the pin,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the fairest maid in the house let us all in.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come, butler, come, bring us a bowl of the best;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I hope your soul in heaven will rest;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But if you do bring us a bowl of the small,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then down fall butler, and bowl and all.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">- - - - -</span><br /> + +<p>And here's a Christmas carol meant for children, and most excellent, and +though the monk that wrote it was hung, yet still his verses may be +sung.</p> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b>A CAROL</b></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As I in a hoarie winter's night</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Stood shivering in the snow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Surpriz'd I was with sudden heat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Which made my heart to glow;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And lifting up a fearefull eye</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To view what fire was neere,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A prettie babe, all burning bright,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Did in the aire appeare;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who, scorchèd with excessive heat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Such flouds of teares did shed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As though his flouds should quench his flames,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Which with his teares were bred:</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Alas! (quoth he) but newly borne,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In fierie heats I frie,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet none approach to warm their hearts,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Or feele my fire, but I;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My faultless brest the furnace is,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The fuell, wounding thornes:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The ashes, shames and scornes;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The fuell justice layeth on,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And mercy blows the coales,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The metalls in this furnace wrought,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Are Men's defiled soules:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For which, as now on fire I am,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To work them to their good,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So will I melt into a bath,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To wash them in my blood.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With this he vanisht out of sight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And swiftly shrunke away,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And straight I called unto minde</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That it was Christmasse Day.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_EVE" id="CHRISTMAS_EVE"></a>CHRISTMAS EVE</b></p> + +<p>HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE</p> + +<p>[From "My Study Fire."]</p> + +<p>The world has been full of mysteries to-day; everybody has gone about +weighted with secrets. The children's faces have fairly shone with +expectancy, and I enter easily into the universal dream which at this +moment holds all the children of Christendom under its spell. Was there +ever a wider or more loving conspiracy than that which keeps the +venerable figure of Santa Claus from slipping away, with all the other +oldtime myths, into the forsaken wonderland of the past? Of all the +personages whose marvelous doings once filled the minds of men, he alone +survives. He has outlived all the great gods, and all the impressive and +poetic conceptions which once flitted between heaven and earth; these +have gone, but Santa Claus remains by virtue of a common understanding +that childhood shall not be despoiled of one of its most cherished +beliefs, either by the mythologist, with his sun myth theory, or the +scientist, with his heartless diatribe against superstition. There is a +good deal more to be said on this subject, if this were the place to say +it; even superstition has its uses, and sometimes, its sound heart of +truth. He who does not see in the legend of Santa Claus a beautiful +faith on one side, and the naive embodiment of a divine fact on the +other, is not fit to have a place at the Christmas board. For him there +should be neither carol, nor holly, nor mistletoe; they only shall keep +the feast to whom all these things are but the outward and visible signs +of an inward and spiritual grace.</p> + +<p>Rosalind and myself are thoroughly orthodox when it comes to the keeping +of holidays; here at least the ways of our fathers are our ways also. +Orthodoxy generally consists in retaining and emphasizing the +disagreeable ways of the fathers, and as we are both inclined to +heterodoxy on these points, we make the more prominent our observance of +the best of the old-time habits. I might preach a pleasant little sermon +just here, taking as my text the "survival of the fittest," and +illustrating the truth from our own domestic ritual; but the season +preaches its own sermon, and I should only follow the example of some +ministers and get between the text and my congregation if I made the +attempt. For weeks we have all been looking forward to this eventful +evening, and the still more eventful morrow. There have been hurried and +whispered conferences hastily suspended at the sound of a familiar step +on the stair; packages of every imaginable size and shape have been +surreptitiously introduced into the house, and have immediately +disappeared in all manner of out-of-the-way places; and for several +weeks past one room has been constantly under lock and key, visited only +when certain sharp-sighted eyes were occupied in other directions. +Through all this scene of mystery Rosalind has moved sedately and with +sealed lips, the common confidant of all the conspirators, and herself +the greatest conspirator of all. Blessed is the season which engages the +whole world in a conspiracy of love!</p> + +<p>After dinner, eaten, let it be confessed, with more haste and less +accompaniment of talk than usual, the parlor doors were opened, and +there stood the Christmas tree in a glow of light, its wonderful +branches laden with all manner of strange fruits not to be found in the +botanies. The wild shouts, the merry laughter, the cries of delight as +one coveted fruit after another dropped into long-expectant arms still +linger in my ears now that the little tapers are burnt out, the boughs +left bare, and the actors in the perennial drama are fast asleep, with +new and strange bedfellows selected from the spoils of the night. +Cradled between a delightful memory and a blissful anticipation, who +does not envy them?</p> + +<p>After this charming prelude is over, Rosalind comes into the study, and +studies for the fortieth time the effect of the new design of decoration +which she had this year worked out, and which gives these rather somber +rows of books a homelike and festive aspect. It pleases me to note the +spray of holly that obscures the title of Bacon's solemn and weighty +"Essays," and I get half a page of suggestions for my notebook from the +fact that a sprig of mistletoe has fallen on old Burton's "Anatomy of +Melancholy." Rosalind has reason to be satisfied, and if I read her face +aright she has succeeded even in her own eyes in bringing Christmas, +with its fragrant memories and its heavenly visions, into the study. I +cannot help thinking, as I watch her piling up the fire for a blaze of +unusual splendor, that if more studies had their Rosalinds to bring in +the genial currents of life there would be more cheer and hope and +large-hearted wisdom in the books which the world is reading to-day.</p> + +<p>When the fire has reached a degree of intensity and magnitude which +Rosalind thinks adequate to the occasion, I take down a well-worn volume +which opens of itself at a well-worn page. It is a book which I have +read and re-read many times, and always with a kindling sympathy and +affection for the man who wrote it; in whatever mood I take it up there +is something in it which touches me with a sense of kinship. It is not a +great book, but it is a book of the heart, and books of the heart have +passed beyond the outer court of criticism before we bestow upon them +that phrase of supreme regard. There are other books of the heart around +me, but on Christmas Eve it is Alexander Smith's "Dreamthorp" which +always seems to lie at my hand, and when I take it up the well-worn +volume falls open at the essay on "Christmas." It is a good many years +since Rosalind and I began to read together on Christmas Eve this +beautiful meditation on the season, and now it has gathered about itself +such a host of memories that it has become part of our common past. It +is, indeed, a veritable palimpsest, overlaid with tender and gracious +recollections out of which the original thought gains a new and subtle +sweetness. As I read it aloud I know that she sees once more the +familiar landscape about Dreamthorp, with the low, dark hill in the +background, and over it "the tender radiance that precedes the moon"; +the village windows are all lighted, and the "whole place shines like a +congregation of glowworms." There are the skaters still "leaning against +the frosty wind"; there is the "gray church tower amid the leafless +elms," around which the echoes of the morning peal of Christmas bells +still hover; the village folk have gathered, "in their best dresses and +their best faces"; the beautiful service of the church has been read and +answered with heartfelt responses, the familiar story has been told +again simply and urgently, with applications for every thankful soul, +and then the congregation has gone to its homes and its festivities.</p> + +<p>All these things, I am sure, lie within Rosalind's vision, although she +seems to see nothing but the ruddy blaze of the fire; all these things I +see, as I have seen them these many Christmas Eves agone; but with this +familiar landscape there are mingled all the sweet and sorrowful +memories of our common life, recalled at this hour that the light of the +highest truth may interpret them anew in the divine language of hope. I +read on until I come to the quotation from the "Hymn to the Nativity," +and then I close the book, and take up a copy of Milton close at hand. +We have had our commemoration service of love, and now there comes into +our thought, with the organ roll of this sublime hymn, the universal +truth which lies at the heart of the season. I am hardly conscious that +it is my voice which makes these words audible: I am conscious only of +this mighty-voiced anthem, fit for the choral song of the morning stars:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Ring out, ye crystal spheres,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And bless our human ears,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If ye have power to touch our senses so;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And let your silver chime</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Move in melodious time;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And let the bass of heaven's deep organ blow;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And, with your ninefold harmony,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Make up full concert to the angelic symphony.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"For, if such holy song</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Enwrap our fancy long,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Time will run back and fetch the age of gold;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And speckled vanity</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Will sicken soon and die,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And leprous sin will melt from earthly mold;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And hell itself will pass away,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And leave her dolorous mansions to the peering day.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 9.5em;">- - - - -</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"The oracles are dumb,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">No voice or hideous hum</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Runs through the archéd roof in words deceiving;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Apollo from his shrine</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Can no more divine</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With hollow shriek the steep of Delphos leaving,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No nightly trance or breathed spell</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Inspires the pale-eyed priest from the prophetic cell.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"The lonely mountains o'er,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the resounding shore,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A voice of weeping heard and loud lament;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From haunted spring, and dale</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Edgéd with poplars pale,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The parting genius is with sighing sent;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With flower-enwoven tresses torn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The nymphs in twilight shades of tangled thickets mourn."</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">- - - - -</span><br /> + +<p>Like a psalm the great Hymn fills the air, and like a psalm it remains +in the memory. The fire has burned low, and a soft and solemn light +fills the room. Neither of us speaks while the clock strikes twelve. I +look out of the window. The heavens are ablaze with light, and somewhere +amid those circling constellations I know that a new star has found its +place, and is shining with such a ray as never before fell from heaven +to earth.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_IN_THE_OLDEN_TIME" id="CHRISTMAS_IN_THE_OLDEN_TIME"></a>CHRISTMAS IN THE OLDEN TIME</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">WALTER SCOTT</span><br /> +</p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On Christmas-eve the bells were rung;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The damsel donned her kirtle sheen;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The hall was dressed with holly green;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Forth to the wood did merry men go,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To gather in the mistletoe.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thus opened wide the baron's hall</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To vassal, tenant, serf and all;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Power laid his rod of rule aside</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And ceremony doffed his pride.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The heir, with roses in his shoes,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That night might village partner choose;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The lord, underogating, share</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The vulgar game of "Post and Pair."</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All hailed, with uncontrolled delight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And general voice, the happy night</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That to the cottage, as the crown,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Brought tidings of salvation down.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The fire, with well-dried logs supplied,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Went roaring up the chimney wide;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The huge hall-table's oaken face,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Scrubbed till it shone, the day to grace,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Bore then upon its massive board</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No mark to part the squire and lord.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then was brought in the lusty brawn</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By old blue-coated serving man;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then the grim boar's head frowned on high,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Crested with bays and rosemary.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Well can the green-garbed ranger tell</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How, when and where the monster fell;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What dogs before his death he tore,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all the baitings of the boar.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The wassal round, in good brown bowls,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Garnished with ribbons, blithely trowls.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There the huge sirloin reeked: hard by</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Plum-porridge stood, and Christmas pye;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor failed old Scotland to produce,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At such high-tide, her savory goose.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then came the merry maskers in,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And carols roared with blithesome din.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If unmelodious was the song,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It was a hearty note, and strong;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who lists may in their murmuring see</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Traces of ancient mystery;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">White shirts supplied the masquerade,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And smutted cheeks the visors made;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But O, what maskers richly dight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Can boast of bosoms half so light!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">England was "merry England" when</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old Christmas brought his sports again;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A Christmas gambol oft would cheer</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The poor man's heart through half the year.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="SLY_SANTA_CLAUS" id="SLY_SANTA_CLAUS"></a>SLY SANTA CLAUS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">MRS. C.S. STONE</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All the house was asleep,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the fire burning low,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When, from far up the chimney,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Came down a "Ho! ho!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And a little, round man,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With a terrible scratching,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Dropped into the room</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With a wink that was catching.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yes, down he came, bumping,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And thumping, and jumping,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And picking himself up without sign</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">of a bruise!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Ho! ho!" he kept on,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As if bursting with cheer.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Good children, gay children,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Glad children, see here!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have brought you fine dolls,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And gay trumpets, and rings,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Noah's arks, and bright skates,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And a host of good things!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have brought a whole sackful,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A packful, a hackful!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Come hither, come hither, come hither</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">and choose!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Ho! ho! What is this?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Why, they all are asleep!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But their stockings are up,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And my presents will keep!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So, in with the candies,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The books, and the toys;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All the goodies I have</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For the good girls and boys.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'll ram them, and jam them,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And slam them, and cram them;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All the stockings will hold while the</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">tired youngsters snooze."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All the while his round shoulders</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Kept ducking and ducking;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And his little, fat fingers</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Kept tucking and tucking;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Until every stocking</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Bulged out, on the wall,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As if it were bursting,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And ready to fall.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And then, all at once,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With a whisk and a whistle,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And twisting himself</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Like a tough bit of gristle,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He bounced up again,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Like the down of a thistle,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And nothing was left but the prints of his shoes.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_WAITS" id="THE_WAITS"></a>THE WAITS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">MARGARET DELAND</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At the break of Christmas Day,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Through the frosty starlight ringing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Faint and sweet and far away,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Comes the sound of children, singing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Chanting, singing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>"Cease to mourn,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>For Christ is born,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Peace and joy to all men bringing!"</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Careless that the chill winds blow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Growing stronger, sweeter, clearer,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Noiseless footfalls in the snow</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Bring the happy voices nearer;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Hear them singing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>"Winter's drear,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>But Christ is here,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Mirth and gladness with Him bringing!"</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Merry Christmas!" hear them say,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As the East is growing lighter;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"May the joy of Christmas Day</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Make your whole year gladder, brighter!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Join their singing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>"To each home</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>Our Christ has come,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>All Love's treasures with Him bringing!"</i></span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_KNIGHTING_OF_THE_SIRLOIN_OF_BEEF_BY_CHARLES_THE_SECOND" id="THE_KNIGHTING_OF_THE_SIRLOIN_OF_BEEF_BY_CHARLES_THE_SECOND"></a>THE KNIGHTING OF THE SIRLOIN OF BEEF BY CHARLES THE SECOND</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANON</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Second Charles of England</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Rode forth one Christmas tide,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To hunt a gallant stag of ten,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of Chingford woods the pride.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The winds blew keen, the snow fell fast,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And made for earth a pall,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As tired steeds and wearied men</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Returned to Friday Hall.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The blazing logs, piled on the dogs,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Were pleasant to behold!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And grateful was the steaming feast</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To hungry men and cold.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With right good-will all took their fill,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And soon each found relief;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whilst Charles his royal trencher piled</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From one huge loin of beef.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Quoth Charles, "Odd's fish! a noble dish!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ay, noble made by me!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By kingly right, I dub thee knight—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sir Loin henceforward be!"</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And never was a royal jest</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Received with such acclaim:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And never knight than good Sir Loin</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">More worthy of the name.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="THE_CHRISTMAS_GOOSE_AT_THE_CRATCHITS" id="THE_CHRISTMAS_GOOSE_AT_THE_CRATCHITS"></a>THE CHRISTMAS GOOSE AT THE CRATCHITS'</b></p> + +<p>CHARLES DICKENS</p> + +<p>You might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds; a feathered +phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter of course; and in truth, +it was something like it in that house. Mrs. Cratchit made the gravy +(ready before-hand in a little saucepan) hissing hot; Master Peter +mashed the potatoes with incredible vigor; Miss Belinda sweetened up the +apple-sauce; Martha dusted the hot plates; Bob took Tiny Tim beside him +in a tiny corner, at the table; the two young Cratchits set chairs for +everybody, not forgetting themselves, and mounting guard upon their +posts, crammed spoons into their mouths, lest they should shriek for +goose before their turn came to be helped. At last the dishes were set +on, and grace was said. It was succeeded by a breathless pause, as Mrs. +Cratchit, looking slowly all along the carving knife, prepared to plunge +it in the breast; but when she did, and when the long-expected gush of +stuffing issued forth, one murmur of delight arose all around the board, +and even Tiny Tim, excited by the two young Cratchits, beat on the table +with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried hurrah!</p> + +<p>There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn't believe there ever was +such a goose cooked. Its tenderness and flavor, size and cheapness, were +the themes of universal admiration. Eked out by the apple-sauce and +mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family; +indeed, as Mrs. Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one small +atom of a bone on the dish), they hadn't ate it all at last! Yet every +one had had enough, and the youngest Cratchits in particular were +steeped in sage and onion to the eye-brows! But now, the plates being +changed by Miss Belinda, Mrs. Cratchit left the room alone—too nervous +to bear witnesses—to take the pudding up, and bring it in.</p> + +<p>Suppose it should not be done enough! Suppose it should break in turning +out! Suppose somebody should have got over the wall of the backyard, and +stolen it, while they were merry with the goose; a supposition at which +the two young Cratchits became livid! All sorts of horrors were +supposed.</p> + +<p>Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. A smell +like a washing-day! That was the cloth. A smell like an eating-house and +a pastry cook's next door to each other, with a laundress next door to +that! That was the pudding. In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered, +flushed, but smiling proudly, with the pudding like a speckled +cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quartern of +ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.</p> + +<p>Oh, a wonderful pudding! Bob Cratchit said, and calmly too, that he +regarded it as the greatest success achieved by Mrs. Cratchit since +their marriage. Mrs. Cratchit said that now the weight was off her mind, +she would confess she had had her doubts about the quantity of flour. +Everybody had something to say about it, but nobody said or thought it +was at all a small pudding for so large a family. It would have been +flat heresy to do so. Any Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a +thing.</p> + +<p>At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth +swept, and the fire made up. The compound in the jug being tasted and +considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a +shovelful of chestnuts on the fire. Then all the Cratchit family drew +round the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit called a circle, meaning half a +one; and at Bob Cratchit's elbow stood the family display of glass—two +tumblers, and a custard-cup without a handle.</p> + +<p>These held the hot stuff from the jug, however, as well as golden +goblets would have done; and Bob served it out with beaming looks, while +the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and cracked noisily. Then Bob +proposed:</p> + +<p>"A merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!"</p> + +<p>Which all the family re-echoed.</p> + +<p>"God bless us every one!" said Tiny Tim, the last of all.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="GOD_BLESS_US_EVERY_ONE" id="GOD_BLESS_US_EVERY_ONE"></a>GOD BLESS US EVERY ONE</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">[From "Sketches in Prose."]</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"God bless us every one!" prayed Tiny Tim,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Crippled, and dwarfed of body, yet so tall</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of soul, we tiptoe earth to look on him,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">High towering over all.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He loved the loveless world, nor dreamed, indeed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That it, at best, could give to him, the while,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But pitying glances, when his only need</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Was but a cheery smile.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And thus he prayed, "God bless us every one!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Enfolding all the creeds within the span</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of his child-heart; and so, despising none,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Was nearer saint than man.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I like to fancy God, in Paradise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Lifting a finger o'er the rhythmic swing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of chiming harp and song, with eager eyes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Turned earthward, listening—</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Anthem stilled—the angels leaning there</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Above the golden walls—the morning sun</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of Christmas bursting flower-like with the prayer,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">"God bless us Every One!"</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="BELLS_ACROSS_THE_SNOWS" id="BELLS_ACROSS_THE_SNOWS"></a>BELLS ACROSS THE SNOWS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O Christmas, merry Christmas!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Is it really come again,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With its memories and greetings,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With its joy and with its pain?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There's a minor in the carol,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And a shadow in the light,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And a spray of cypress twining</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With the holly wreath to-night.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the hush is never broken</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">By laughter light and low,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As we listen in the starlight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To the "bells across the snow."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O Christmas, merry Christmas!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">'Tis not so very long</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Since other voices blended</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With the carol and the song!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If we could but hear them singing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As they are singing now,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If we could but see the radiance</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of the crown on each dear brow;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There would be no sigh to smother,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">No hidden tear to flow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As we listen in the starlight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To the "bells across the snow."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O Christmas, merry Christmas!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This never more can be;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We cannot bring again the days</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of our unshadowed glee.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But Christmas, happy Christmas,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sweet herald of good-will,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With holy songs of glory</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Brings holy gladness still.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For peace and hope may brighten,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And patient love may glow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As we listen in the starlight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To the "bells across the snow."</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_BELLS" id="CHRISTMAS_BELLS"></a>CHRISTMAS BELLS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I heard the bells on Christmas Day</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Their old, familiar carols play,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And wild and sweet</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The words repeat</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And thought how, as the day had come,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The belfries of all Christendom</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Had rolled along</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The unbroken song</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Till, ringing, swinging on its way,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The world revolved from night to day</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A voice, a chime,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A chant sublime</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then from each black, accursèd mouth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The cannon thundered in the South</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And with the sound</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The carols drowned</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It was as if an earthquake rent</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The hearth-stones of a continent,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And made forlorn</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The households born</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And in despair I bowed my head;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"There is no peace on earth," I said;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"For hate is strong</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And mocks the song</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then pealed the bells more loud and deep.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"God is not dead; nor doth He sleep!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Wrong shall fail,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Right prevail,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With peace on earth, good-will to men!"</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="MINSTRELS_AND_MAIDS" id="MINSTRELS_AND_MAIDS"></a>MINSTRELS AND MAIDS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">WILLIAM MORRIS</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Outlanders, whence come ye last?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The snow in the street and the wind on the door</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Through what green seas and great have ye past?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From far away, O masters mine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The snow in the street and the wind on the door</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We come to bear you goodly wine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From far away we come to you,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The snow in the street and the wind on the door</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To tell of great tidings strange and true,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">News, news of the Trinity,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The snow in the street and the wind on the door</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And Mary and Joseph from over the sea!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For as we wandered far and wide,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The snow in the street and the wind on the door</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What hap do you deem there should us betide!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Under a bent when the night was deep,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The snow in the street and the wind on the door</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There lay three shepherds tending their sheep.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"O ye shepherds, what have ye seen,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The snow in the street and the wind on the door</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To slay your sorrow, and heal your teen?"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"In an ox-stall this night we saw,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The snow in the street and the wind on the door</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A babe and a maid without a flaw.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"There was an old man there beside,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The snow in the street and the wind on the door</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His hair was white and his hood was wide.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"And as we gazed this thing upon,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The snow in the street and the wind on the door</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Those twain knelt down to the Little One,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"And a marvellous song we straight did hear,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The snow in the street and the wind on the door</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That slew our sorrow and healed our care."</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">News of a fair and marvellous thing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>The snow in the street and the wind on the door</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nowell, nowell, nowell, we sing!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor</i></span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="INEXHAUSTIBILITY_OF_THE_SUBJECT_OF_CHRISTMAS" id="INEXHAUSTIBILITY_OF_THE_SUBJECT_OF_CHRISTMAS"></a>INEXHAUSTIBILITY OF THE SUBJECT OF CHRISTMAS</b></p> + +<p>LEIGH HUNT</p> + +<p>So many things have been said of late years about Christmas, that it is +supposed by some there is no saying more. O they of little faith! What! +do they suppose that every thing has been said that <i>can </i>be said about +any one Christmas thing?</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About beef, for instance?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About plum-pudding?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About mince-pie?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About holly?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About ivy?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About rosemary?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About mistletoe? (Good Heavens! what an immense number of things remain to be said about mistletoe!)</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About Christmas Eve?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About hunt-the-slipper?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About hot cockles?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About blind-man's-buff?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About shoeing the wild-mare?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About thread-the-needle?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About he-can-do-little-that-can't-do-this?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About puss-in-the-corner?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About snap-dragon?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About forfeits?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About Miss Smith?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About the bell-man?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About the waits?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About chilblains?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About carols?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About the fire?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About the block on it?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About school-boys?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About their mothers?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About Christmas-boxes?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About turkeys?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About Hogmany?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About goose-pie?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About mumming?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About saluting the apple-trees?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About brawn?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About plum-porridge?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About hobby-horse?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About hoppings?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About wakes?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About "feed-the-dove"?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About hackins?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About yule-doughs?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About going-a-gooding?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About loaf-stealing?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About <i>Julklaps</i>? (Who has exhausted that subject, we should like to know?)</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About wad-shooting?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About elder-wine?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About pantomimes?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About cards?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About New-Year's Day?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About gifts?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About wassail?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About Twelfth-cake?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About king and queen?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About characters?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About eating too much?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About aldermen?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About the doctor?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About all being in the wrong?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About charity?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About all being in the right?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About faith, hope, and endeavor?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">About the greatest plum-pudding for the greatest number?</span><br /> + +<p><i>Esto perpetua</i>,—that is, faith, hope and charity, and endeavor; and +plum-pudding enough by and by, all the year round, for everybody that +likes it. Why that should not be the case, we cannot see,—seeing that +the earth is big, and human kind teachable, and God very good, and +inciting us to do it. Meantime, gravity apart, we ask anybody whether +any of the above subjects are exhausted; and we inform everybody, that +all the above customs still exist in some parts of our beloved country, +however unintelligible they may have become in others. But to give a +specimen of the non-exhaustion of any one of their topics.</p> + +<p>Beef, for example. Now, we should like to know who has exhausted the +subject of the fine old roast Christmas piece of beef, from its original +appearance in the meadows as part of the noble sultan of the herd, +glorious old Taurus,—the lord of the sturdy brow and ponderous agility, +a sort of thunderbolt of a beast, well chosen by Jove to disguise in, +one of Nature's most striking compounds of apparent heaviness and +unencumbered activity,—up to its contribution to the noble +Christmas-dinner, smoking from the spit, and flanked by the outposts of +Bacchus. John Bull (cannibalism apart) hails it like a sort of relation. +He makes it part of his flesh and blood; glories in it; was named after +it; has it served up, on solemn occasions, with music and a hymn, as it +was the other day at the royal city dinner:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Oh the roast beef of old England!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And oh the old English roast beef!"</span><br /> + +<p>"<i>And </i>oh!" observe, not merely "oh!" again; but "and" with it; as if, +though the same piece of beef, it were also another,—another and the +same,—cut, and come again; making two of one, in order to express +intensity and reduplication of satisfaction:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Oh the roast beef of old England!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>And </i>oh the old English roast beef!"</span><br /> + +<p>We beg to assure the reader, that a whole <i>Seer </i>might be written on +this single point of the Christmas-dinner; and "shall we be told" (as +orators exclaim), "and this, too, in a British land," that the subject +is "<i>exhausted</i>"!</p> + +<p>Then plum-pudding! What a word is that! how plump and plump again! How +round and repeated and plenipotential! (There are two p's, observe, in +plenipotential; and so there are in plum-pudding. We love an exquisite +fitness,—a might and wealth of adaptation). Why, the whole round cheek +of universal childhood is in the idea of plum-pudding; ay, and the +weight of manhood, and the plenitude of the majesty of city dames. +Wealth itself is symbolized by the least of its fruity particles. "A +plum" is a city fortune,—a million of money. He (the old boy, who has +earned it)—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Puts in his thumb,</span><br /> + +<p><i>videlicet</i>, into his pocket,</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And pulls out a plum,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And says, What a <i>good man </i>am I!"</span><br /> + +<p>Observe a little boy at a Christmas-dinner, and his grandfather opposite +him. What a world of secret similarity there is between them! How hope +in one, and retrospection in the other, and appetite in both, meet over +the same ground of pudding, and understand it to a nicety! How the +senior banters the little boy on his third slice! and how the little boy +thinks within himself that he dines that day as well as the senior! How +both look hot and red and smiling, and juvenile. How the little boy is +conscious of the Christmas-box in his pocket! (of which, indeed, the +grandfather jocosely puts him in mind); and how the grandfather is quite +as conscious of the plum, or part of a plum, or whatever fraction it may +be, in his own! How he incites the little boy to love money and good +dinners all his life! and how determined the little boy is to abide by +his advice,—with a secret addition in favor of holidays and +marbles,—to which there is an analogy, in the senior's mind, on the +side of trips to Hastings, and a game at whist! Finally, the old +gentleman sees his own face in the pretty smooth one of the child; and +if the child is not best pleased at his proclamation of the likeness (in +truth, is horrified at it, and thinks it a sort of madness), yet nice +observers, who have lived long enough to see the wonderful changes in +people's faces from youth to age, probably discern the thing well +enough, and feel a movement of pathos at their hearts in considering the +world of trouble and emotion that is the causer of the changes. <i>That</i> +old man's face was once like that little boy's! <i>That </i>little boy's will +be one day like that old man's! What a thought to make us all love and +respect one another, if not for our fine qualities, let at least for the +trouble and sorrow which we all go through!</p> + +<p>Ay, and joy too; for all people have their joys as well as troubles, at +one time or another,—most likely both together, or in constant +alternation: and the greater part of troubles are not the worst things +in the world, but only graver forms of the requisite motion of the +universe, or workings towards a better condition of things, the greater +or less violent according as we give them violence, or respect them like +awful but not ill-meaning gods, and entertain them with a rewarded +patience. Grave thoughts, you will say, for Christmas. But no season has +a greater right to grave thoughts, in passing; and, for that very +reason, no season has a greater right to let them pass, and recur to +more light ones.</p> + +<p>So a noble and merry season to you, my masters; and may we meet, thick +and three-fold, many a time and oft, in blithe yet most thoughtful +pages! Fail not to call to mind, in the course of the 25th of this +month, that the divinest Heart that ever walked the earth was born on +that day: and then smile and enjoy yourselves for the rest of it; for +mirth is also of Heaven's making, and wondrous was the wine-drinking at +Galilee.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="SONG_OF_THE_HOLLY" id="SONG_OF_THE_HOLLY"></a>SONG OF THE HOLLY</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Blow, blow thou winter wind—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Thou art not so unkind</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">As man's ingratitude!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Thy tooth is not so keen,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Because thou art not seen,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Although thy breath be rude.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Heigh ho! sing heigh ho! unto the green holly:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Then heigh ho! the holly!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">This life is most jolly!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Thou dost not bite so nigh</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">As benefits forgot!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Though thou the waters warp,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Thy sting is not so sharp</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">As friend remembered not.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Heigh ho! sing heigh ho! unto the green holly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Then heigh ho, the holly!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">This life is most jolly!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="UNDER_THE_HOLLY-BOUGH" id="UNDER_THE_HOLLY-BOUGH"></a>UNDER THE HOLLY-BOUGH</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">CHARLES MACKAY</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ye who have scorned each other,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or injured friend or brother,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In this fast-fading year;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ye who, by word or deed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Have made a kind heart bleed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Come gather here!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let sinned against and sinning</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Forget their strife's beginning,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And join in friendship now.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be links no longer broken,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be sweet forgiveness spoken</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Under the Holly-Bough.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ye who have loved each other,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sister and friend and brother,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In this fast-fading year:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mother and sire and child,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Young man and maiden mild,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Come gather here;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And let your heart grow fonder,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As memory shall ponder</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Each past unbroken vow;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old loves and younger wooing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are sweet in the renewing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Under the Holly-Bough.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ye who have nourished sadness,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Estranged from hope and gladness</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In this fast-fading year;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ye with o'erburdened mind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Made aliens from your kind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Come gather here.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let not the useless sorrow</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pursue you night and morrow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">If e'er you hoped, hope now.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Take heart,—uncloud your faces,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And join in our embraces</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Under the Holly-Bough.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CEREMONIES_FOR_CHRISTMAS" id="CEREMONIES_FOR_CHRISTMAS"></a>CEREMONIES FOR CHRISTMAS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ROBERT HERRICK</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Come, bring with a noise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">My merry, merry boys,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Christmas log to the firing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">While my good dame, she</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Bids ye all be free,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And drink to your heart's desiring.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With the last year's brand</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Light the new block, and</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For good success in his spending,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On your psalteries play,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That sweet luck may</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come while the log is a-teending.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Drink now the strong beer,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Cut the white loaf here,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The while the meat is a-shredding;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For the rare mince-pie,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the plums stand by,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To fill the paste that's a kneading.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="SANTA_CLAUS" id="SANTA_CLAUS"></a>SANTA CLAUS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANON</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He comes in the night! He comes in the night!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He softly, silently comes;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While the little brown heads on the pillows so white</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Are dreaming of bugles and drums.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He cuts through the snow like a ship through the foam,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">While the white flakes around him whirl;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who tells him I know not, but he findeth the home</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of each good little boy and girl.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His sleigh it is long, and deep, and wide;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It will carry a host of things,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While dozens of drums hang over the side,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With the sticks sticking under the strings:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And yet not the sound of a drum is heard,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Not a bugle blast is blown,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As he mounts to the chimney-top like a bird,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And drops to the hearth like a stone.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The little red stockings he silently fills,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Till the stockings will hold no more;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The bright little sleds for the great snow hills</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Are quickly set down on the floor.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then Santa Claus mounts to the roof like a bird,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And glides to his seat in the sleigh;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not the sound of a bugle or drum is heard</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As he noiselessly gallops away.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He rides to the East, and he rides to the West,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of his goodies he touches not one;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He eateth the crumbs of the Christmas feast</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When the dear little folks are done.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old Santa Claus doeth all that he can;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This beautiful mission is his;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then, children, be good to the little old man,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When you find who the little man is.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_CEREMONIES_FOR_CHRISTMAS_DAY" id="THE_CEREMONIES_FOR_CHRISTMAS_DAY"></a>THE CEREMONIES FOR CHRISTMAS DAY</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ROBERT HERRICK</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Kindle the Christmas brand, and then</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Till sunset let it burn;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which quench'd, then lay it up again</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Till Christmas next return.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Part must be kept wherewith to teend</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Christmas log next year,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And where 'tis safely kept, the fiend</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Can do no mischief there.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="DECEMBER" id="DECEMBER"></a>DECEMBER</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">HARRIET F. BLODGETT</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh! holly branch and mistletoe.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And Christmas chimes where'er we go.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And stockings pinned up in a row!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">These are thy gifts, December!</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">II</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And if the year has made thee old,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And silvered all thy locks of gold,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thy heart has never been a-cold</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Or known a fading ember.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">III</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The whole world is a Christmas tree,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And stars its many candles be.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh! sing a carol joyfully</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The year's great feast in keeping!</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">IV</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For once, on a December night</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">An angel held a candle bright.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And led three wise men by its light</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To where a child was sleeping.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="THE_FESTIVAL_OF_ST_NICHOLAS" id="THE_FESTIVAL_OF_ST_NICHOLAS"></a>THE FESTIVAL OF ST. NICHOLAS</b></p> + +<p>MARY MAPES DODGE</p> + +<p>We all know how, before the Christmas-tree began to flourish in the +home-life of our country, a certain "right jolly old elf," with "eight +tiny reindeer," used to drive his sleigh-load of toys up to our +housetops, and then bound down the chimney to fill the stockings so +hopefully hung by the fireplace. His friends called him Santa Claus; and +those who were most intimate ventured to say, "Old Nick." It was said +that he originally came from Holland. Doubtless he did; but, if so, he +certainly, like many other foreigners, changed his ways very much after +landing upon our shores. In Holland, St. Nicholas is a veritable saint, +and often appears in full costume, with his embroidered robes glittering +with gems and gold, his mitre, his crosier, and his jewelled gloves. +<i>Here </i>Santa Claus comes rollicking along on the 25th of December, our +Holy Christmas morn; but in Holland, St. Nicholas visits earth on the +5th, a time especially appropriated to him. Early on the morning of the +6th, which is St. Nicholas Day, he distributes his candies, toys and +treasures, and then vanishes for a year.</p> + +<p>Christmas Day is devoted by the Hollanders to church-rites and pleasant +family visiting. It is on St. Nicholas Eve that their young people +become half wild with joy and expectation. To some of them it is a sorry +time; for the saint is very candid, and, if any of them have been bad +during the past year, he is quite sure to tell them so. Sometimes he +carries a birch-rod under his arm, and advises the parents to give them +scoldings in place of confections, and floggings instead of joys.</p> + +<p>It was well that the boys hastened to their abodes on that bright winter +evening; for, in less than an hour afterwards, the saint made his +appearance in half the homes of Holland. He visited the king's palace, +and in the self-same moment appeared in Annie Bouman's comfortable home. +Probably one of our silver half-dollars would have purchased all that +his saintship left at the peasant Bouman's. But a half-dollar's worth +will sometimes do for the poor what hundreds of dollars may fail to do +for the rich: it makes them happy and grateful, fills them with new +peace and love.</p> + +<p>Hilda van Gleck's little brothers and sisters were in a high state of +excitement that night. They had been admitted into the grand parlor: +they were dressed in their best, and had been given two cakes apiece at +supper. Hilda was as joyous as any. Why not? St. Nicholas would never +cross a girl of fourteen from his list, just because she was tall and +looked almost like a woman. On the contrary, he would probably exert +himself to do honor to such an august-looking damsel. Who could tell? So +she sported and laughed and danced as gayly as the youngest, and was the +soul of all their merry games. Father, mother and grandmother looked on +approvingly; so did grandfather, before he spread his large red +handkerchief over his face, leaving only the top of his skull-cap +visible. This kerchief was his ensign of sleep.</p> + +<p>Earlier in the evening, all had joined in the fun. In the general +hilarity, there had seemed to be a difference only in bulk between +grandfather and the baby. Indeed, a shade of solemn expectation, now and +then flitting across the faces of the younger members, had made them +seem rather more thoughtful than their elders.</p> + +<p>Now the spirit of fun reigned supreme. The very flames danced and +capered in the polished grate. A pair of prim candles, that had been +staring at the astral lamp, began to wink at other candles far away in +the mirrors. There was a long bell-rope suspended from the ceiling in +the corner, made of glass beads, netted over a cord nearly as thick as +your wrist. It generally hung in the shadow, and made no sign; but +to-night it twinkled from end to end. Its handle of crimson glass sent +reckless dashes of red at the papered wall, turning its dainty blue +stripes into purple. Passers-by halted to catch the merry laughter +floating through curtain and sash into the street, then skipped on their +way with the startled consciousness that the village was wide awake. At +last matters grew so uproarious that the grandsire's red kerchief came +down from his face with a jerk. What decent old gentleman could sleep in +such a racket! Mynheer van Gleck regarded his children with +astonishment. The baby even showed symptoms of hysterics. It was high +time to attend to business. Mevrouw suggested that, if they wished to +see the good St. Nicholas, they should sing the same loving invitation +that had brought him the year before.</p> + +<p>The baby stared, and thrust his fist into his mouth, as Mynheer put him +down upon the floor. Soon he sat erect, and looked with a sweet scowl at +the company. With his lace and embroideries, and his crown of blue +ribbon and whalebone (for he was not quite past the tumbling age), he +looked like the king of babies.</p> + +<p>The other children, each holding a pretty willow basket, formed at once +in a ring, and moved slowly around the little fellow, lifting their eyes +meanwhile; for the saint to whom they were about to address themselves +was yet in mysterious quarters.</p> + +<p>Mevrouw commenced playing softly upon the piano; soon the voices +rose,—gentle, youthful voices, rendered all the sweeter for their +tremor,—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Welcome, friend! St. Nicholas, welcome!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Bring no rod for us to-night!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While our voices bid thee welcome,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Every heart with joy is light.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">"Tell us every fault and failing;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">We will bear thy keenest railing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">So we sing, so we sing:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Thou shalt tell us everything!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Welcome, friend! St. Nicholas, welcome!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Welcome to this merry band!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Happy children greet thee, welcome!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Thou art gladdening all the land.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">"Fill each empty hand and basket;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">'T is thy little ones who ask it.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">So we sing, so we sing:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Thou wilt bring us everything!"</span><br /> +<br /> +<p>During the chorus, sundry glances, half in eagerness, half in dread, had +been cast towards the polished folding-doors. Now a loud knocking was +heard. The circle was broken in an instant. Some of the little ones, +with a strange mixture of fear and delight, pressed against their +mother's knee. Grandfather bent forward, with his chin resting upon his +hand; grandmother lifted her spectacles; Mynheer van Gleck, seated by +the fireplace, slowly drew his meerschaum from his mouth; while Hilda +and the other children settled themselves beside him in an expectant +group.</p> + +<p>The knocking was heard again.</p> + +<p>"Come in," said the mevrouw, softly.</p> + +<p>The door slowly opened; and St. Nicholas, in full array, stood before +them. You could have heard a pin drop. Soon he spoke. What a mysterious +majesty in his voice! what kindliness in his tone!</p> + +<p>"Karel van Gleck, I am pleased to greet thee, and thy honored <i>vrouw</i>, +Kathrine, and thy son, and his good <i>vrouw</i>, Annie.</p> + +<p>"Children, I greet ye all,—Hendrick, Hilda, Broom, Katy, Huygens and +Lucretia. And thy cousins,—Wolfert, Diedrich, Mayken, Voost and +Katrina. Good children ye have been, in the main, since I last accosted +ye. Diedrich was rude at the Haarlem fair last fall; but he has tried to +atone for it since. Mayken has failed, of late, in her lessons; and too +many sweets and trifles have gone to her lips, and too few stivers to +her charity-box. Diedrich, I trust, will be a polite, manly boy for the +future; and Mayken will endeavor to shine as a student. Let her +remember, too, that economy and thrift are needed in the foundation of a +worthy and generous life. Little Katy has been cruel to the cat more +than once. St. Nicholas can hear the cat cry when its tail is pulled. I +will forgive her, if she will remember from this hour that the smallest +dumb creatures have feeling, and must not be abused."</p> + +<p>As Katy burst into a frightened cry, the saint graciously remained +silent until she was soothed.</p> + +<p>"Master Broom," he resumed, "I warn thee that boys who are in the habit +of putting snuff upon the foot-stove of the school-mistress may one day +be discovered, and receive a flogging—"</p> + +<p>(Master Broom colored, and stared in great astonishment.)</p> + +<p>"But, thou art such an excellent scholar, I shall make thee no further +reproof.</p> + +<p>"Thou, Hendrick, didst distinguish thyself in the archery match last +spring, and hit the <i>doel</i>,<a name="FNanchor_A_6" id="FNanchor_A_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_6" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> though the bird was swung before it to +unsteady thine eye. I give thee credit for excelling in manly sport and +exercise; though I must not unduly countenance thy boat-racing, since it +leaves thee too little time for thy proper studies.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_6" id="Footnote_A_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_6"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Bull's-eye.</p></div> + +<p>"Lucretia and Hilda shall have a blessed sleep to-night. The +consciousness of kindness to the poor, devotion in their souls, and +cheerful, hearty obedience to household rule, will render them happy.</p> + +<p>"With one and all I avow myself well content. Goodness, industry, +benevolence and thrift have prevailed in your midst. Therefore, my +blessing upon you; and may the New Year find all treading the paths of +obedience, wisdom and love! To-morrow you shall find more substantial +proofs that I have been in your home. Farewell!"</p> + +<p>With these words came a great shower of sugar-plums upon a linen sheet +spread out in front of the doors. A general scramble followed. The +children fairly tumbled over each other in their eagerness to fill their +baskets. Mevrouw cautiously held the baby down upon the sheet till the +chubby little fists were filled. Then the bravest of the youngsters +sprang up and threw open the closed doors. In vain they searched the +mysterious apartment. St. Nicholas was nowhere to be seen.</p> + +<p>Soon they all sped to another room, where stood a table, covered with +the whitest of linen damask. Each child, in a flutter of pleasure, laid +a shoe upon it, and each shoe held a little hay for the good saint's +horse. The door was then carefully locked, and its key hidden in the +mother's bedroom. Next followed good-night kisses, a grand family +procession to the upper floor, merry farewells at bedroom doors, and +silence, at last, reigned in the Van Gleck mansion.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning, the door was solemnly unlocked and opened in the +presence of the assembled household; when, lo! a sight appeared, proving +good St. Nicholas to be a saint of his word.</p> + +<p>Every shoe was filled to overflowing; and beside each stood a +many-colored pile. The table was heavy with its load of +presents,—candies, toys, trinkets, books and other articles. Every one +had gifts, from grandfather down to the baby.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_CHRISTMAS_HOLLY" id="THE_CHRISTMAS_HOLLY"></a>THE CHRISTMAS HOLLY</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ELIZA COOK</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The holly! the holly! oh, twine it with bay—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Come give the holly a song;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For it helps to drive stern winter away,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With his garment so sombre and long;</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It peeps through the trees with its berries of red,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And its leaves of burnished green,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When the flowers and fruits have long been dead,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And not even the daisy is seen.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then sing to the holly, the Christmas holly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That hangs over peasant and king;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While we laugh and carouse 'neath its glittering boughs,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To the Christmas holly we'll sing.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The gale may whistle, the frost may come</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To fetter the gurgling rill;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The woods may be bare, and warblers dumb,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But holly is beautiful still.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the revel and light of princely halls</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The bright holly branch is found;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And its shadow falls on the lowliest walls,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">While the brimming horn goes round.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The ivy lives long, but its home must be</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where graves and ruins are spread;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There's beauty about the cypress tree,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But it flourishes near the dead;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The laurel the warrior's brow may wreathe,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But it tells of tears and blood;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I sing the holly, and who can breathe</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Aught of that that is not good?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then sing to the holly, the Christmas holly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That hangs over peasant and king;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While we laugh and carouse 'neath its glittering boughs,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To the Christmas holly we'll sing.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="TO_THE_FIR-TREE" id="TO_THE_FIR-TREE"></a>TO THE FIR-TREE</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">FROM THE GERMAN</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O Fir-tree green! O Fir-tree green!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Your leaves are constant ever,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not only in the summer time,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But through the winter's snow and rime</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">You're fresh and green forever.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O Fir-tree green! O Fir-tree green!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I still shall love you dearly!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How oft to me on Christmas night</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Your laden boughs have brought delight.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O Fir-tree green! O Fir-tree green!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I still shall love you dearly.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_MAHOGANY-TREE" id="THE_MAHOGANY-TREE"></a>THE MAHOGANY-TREE</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY</span><br /> +</p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Christmas is here;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Winds whistle shrill,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Icy and chill,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little care we;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little we fear</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Weather without,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sheltered about</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Mahogany-Tree.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Once on the boughs</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Birds of rare plume</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sang in its bloom;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Night-birds are we;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here we carouse,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Singing, like them,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Perched round the stem</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of the jolly old tree.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here let us sport,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Boys, as we sit—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Laughter and wit</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Flashing so free.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Life is but short—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When we are gone,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let them sing on,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Round the old tree.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Evenings we knew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Happy as this;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Faces we miss,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pleasant to see.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Kind hearts and true,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gentle and just,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Peace to your dust!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We sing round the tree.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Care like a dun,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lurks at the gate;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let the dog wait;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Happy we'll be!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Drink, every one;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pile up the coals;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fill the red bowls,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Round the old tree!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Drain we the cup.—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Friend, art afraid?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Spirits are laid</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the Red Sea.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mantle it up;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Empty it yet;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let us forget,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Round the old tree!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sorrows begone!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Life and its ills,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Duns and their bills,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Bid we to flee.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come with the dawn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Blue-devil sprite;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Leave us to-night,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Round the old tree!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="CHRISTMASIV" id="CHRISTMASIV"></a>CHRISTMAS</b></p> + +<p>WASHINGTON IRVING</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But is old, old, good old Christmas gone? Nothing but the hair on</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">his good, gray, old head and beard left? Well, I will have that,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">seeing I cannot have more of him.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 14.5em;">Hue and Cry after Christmas.</span><br /> + + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A man might then behold</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">At Christmas, in each hall,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Good fires to curb the cold,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And meat for great and small.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The neighbors were friendly bidden,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And all had welcome true,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The poor from the gates were not chidden,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When this old cap was new.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 17em;">Old Song.</span><br /> + + + +<p>There is nothing in England that exercises a more delightful spell over +my imagination than the lingerings of the holiday customs and rural +games of former times. They recall the pictures my fancy used to draw in +the May morning of life, when as yet I only knew the world through +books, and believed it to be all that poets had painted it; and they +bring with them the flavor of those honest days of yore, in which, +perhaps with equal fallacy, I am apt to think the world was more +homebred, social, and joyous than at present. I regret to say that they +are daily growing more and more faint, being gradually worn away by +time, but still more obliterated by modern fashion. They resemble those +picturesque morsels of Gothic architecture, which we see crumbling in +various parts of the country, partly dilapidated by the waste of ages, +and partly lost in the additions and alterations of latter days. Poetry, +however, clings with cherishing fondness about the rural game and +holiday revel, from which it has derived so many of its themes—as the +ivy winds its rich foliage about the Gothic arch and mouldering tower, +gratefully repaying their support, by clasping together their tottering +remains, and, as it were, embalming them in verdure.</p> + +<p>Of all the old festivals, however, that of Christmas awakens the +strongest and most heartfelt associations. There is a tone of solemn and +sacred feeling that blends with our conviviality, and lifts the spirit +to a state of hallowed and elevated enjoyment. The services of the +church about this season are extremely tender and inspiring: they dwell +on the beautiful story of the origin of our faith, and the pastoral +scenes that accompanied its announcement; they gradually increase in +fervor and pathos during the season of Advent, until they break forth in +full jubilee on the morning that brought peace and good-will to men. I +do not know a grander effect of music on the moral feelings than to hear +the full choir and the pealing organ performing a Christmas anthem in a +cathedral, and filling every part of the vast pile with triumphant +harmony.</p> + +<p>It is a beautiful arrangement, also, derived from the days of yore, that +this festival, which commemorates the announcement of the religion of +peace and love, has been made the season for gathering together of +family connections, and drawing closer again those bands of kindred +hearts, which the cares and pleasures and sorrows of the world are +continually operating to cast loose; of calling back the children of a +family, who have launched forth in life, and wandered widely asunder, +once more to assemble about the paternal hearth, that rallying-place of +the affections, there to grow young and loving again among the endearing +mementos of childhood.</p> + +<p>There is something in the very season of the year, that gives a charm to +the festivity of Christmas. At other times, we derive a great portion of +our pleasures from the mere beauties of Nature. Our feelings sally forth +and dissipate themselves over the sunny landscape, and we "live abroad +and everywhere." The song of the bird, the murmur of the stream, the +breathing fragrance of spring, the soft voluptuousness of summer, the +golden pomp of autumn; earth with its mantle of refreshing green, and +heaven with its deep, delicious blue and its cloudy magnificence,—all +fill us with mute but exquisite delight, and we revel in the luxury of +mere sensation. But in the depth of winter, when Nature lies despoiled +of every charm, and wrapped in her shroud of sheeted snow, we turn for +our gratifications to moral sources. The dreariness and desolation of +our landscape, the short gloomy days and darksome nights, while they +circumscribe our wanderings, shut in our feelings also from rambling +abroad, and make us more keenly disposed for the pleasures of the social +circle. Our thoughts are more concentrated; our friendly sympathies more +aroused. We feel more sensibly the charm of each other's society, and +are brought more closely together by dependence on each other for +enjoyment. Heart calleth unto heart, and we draw our pleasures from the +deep wells of living kindness which lie in the quiet recesses of our +bosoms; and which, when resorted to, furnish forth the pure element of +domestic felicity.</p> + +<p>The pitchy gloom without makes the heart dilate on entering the room +filled with the glow and warmth of the evening fire. The ruddy blaze +diffuses an artificial summer and sunshine through the room, and lights +up each countenance with a kindlier welcome. Where does the honest face +of hospitality expand into a broader and more cordial smile—where is +the shy glance of love more sweetly eloquent—than by the winter +fireside? and as the hollow blast of wintry wind rushes through the +hall, claps the distant door, whistles about the casement, and rumbles +down the chimney, what can be more grateful than that feeling of sober +and sheltered security, with which we look around upon the comfortable +chamber, and the scene of domestic hilarity?</p> + +<p>The English, from the great prevalence of rural habits throughout every +class of society, have always been fond of those festivals and holidays +which agreeably interrupt the stillness of country life; and they were +in former days particularly observant of the religious and social rights +of Christmas. It is inspiring to read even the dry details which some +antiquaries have given of the quaint humors, the burlesque pageants, the +complete abandonment to mirth and good fellowship, with which this +festival was celebrated. It seemed to throw open every door, unlock +every heart. It brought the peasant and the peer together, and blended +all ranks in one warm generous flow of joy and kindness. The old halls +of castles and manor-houses resounded with the harp and the Christmas +carol, and their ample boards groaned under the weight of hospitality. +Even the poorest cottage welcomed the festive season with green +decorations of bay and holly—the cheerful fire glanced its rays through +the lattice, inviting the passenger to raise the latch, and join the +gossip knot huddled round the hearth beguiling the long evening with +legendary jokes, and oft-told Christmas tales.</p> + +<p>One of the least pleasing effects of modern refinement is the havoc it +has made among the hearty old holiday customs. It has completely taken +off the sharp touchings and spirited reliefs of these embellishments of +life, and has worn down society into a more smooth and polished, but +certainly a less characteristic surface. Many of the games and +ceremonials of Christmas have entirely disappeared, and, like the +sherris sack of old Falstaff, are become matters of speculation and +dispute among commentators. They flourished in times full of spirit and +lustihood, when men enjoyed life roughly, but heartily and vigorously: +times wild and picturesque, which have furnished poetry with its richest +materials, and the drama with its most attractive variety of characters +and manners. The world has become more worldly. There is more of +dissipation and less enjoyment. Pleasure has expanded into a broader, +but a shallower stream, and has forsaken many of those deep and quiet +channels, where it flowed sweetly through the calm bosom of domestic +life. Society has acquired a more enlightened and elegant tone; but it +has lost many of its strong local peculiarities, its homebred feelings, +its honest fireside delights. The traditionary customs of golden-hearted +antiquity, its feudal hospitalities, and lordly wassailings, have passed +away with the baronial castles and stately manor-houses in which they +were celebrated. They comported with the shadowy hall, the great oaken +gallery, and the tapestried parlor, but are unfitted for the light showy +saloons and gay drawing-rooms of the modern villa.</p> + +<p>Shorn, however, as it is, of its ancient and festive honors, Christmas +is still a period of delightful excitement in England. It is gratifying +to see that home feeling completely aroused which holds so powerful a +place in every English bosom. The preparations making on every side for +the social board that is again to unite friends and kindred—the +presents of good cheer passing and repassing, those tokens of regard and +quickeners of kind feelings—the evergreens distributed about houses and +churches, emblems of peace and gladness—all these have the most +pleasing effect in producing fond associations, and kindling benevolent +sympathies. Even the sound of the waits, rude as may be their +minstrelsy, breaks upon the midwatches of a winter night with the effect +of perfect harmony. As I have been awakened by them in that still and +solemn hour "when deep sleep falleth upon man," I have listened with a +hushed delight, and connecting them with the sacred and joyous occasion, +have almost fancied them into another celestial choir, announcing peace +and good-will to mankind. How delightfully the imagination, when wrought +upon by these moral influences, turns everything to melody and beauty! +The very crowing of the cock, heard sometimes in the profound repose of +the country, "telling the night-watches to his feathery dames," was +thought by the common people to announce the approach of the sacred +festival:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Wherein our Saviour's birth was celebrated,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This bird of dawning singeth all night long:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The nights are wholesome—then no planets strike,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No fairy takes, no witch hath power to charm,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So hallowed and so gracious is the time."</span><br /> + +<p>Amidst the general call to happiness, the bustle of the spirits, and +stir of the affections, which prevail at this period, what bosom can +remain insensible? It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling—the +season for kindling not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but +the genial flame of charity in the heart. The scene of early love again +rises green to memory beyond the sterile waste of years, and the idea of +home, fraught with the fragrance of home-dwelling joys, reanimates the +drooping spirit—as the Arabian breeze will sometimes waft the freshness +of the distant fields to the weary pilgrim of the desert.</p> + +<p>Stranger and sojourner as I am in the land—though for me no social +hearth may blaze, no hospitable roof throw open its doors, nor the warm +grasp of friendship welcome me at the threshold—yet I feel the +influence of the season beaming into my soul from the happy looks of +those around me. Surely happiness is reflective, like the light of +heaven; and every countenance bright with smiles, and glowing with +innocent enjoyment, is a mirror transmitting to others the rays of a +supreme and ever-shining benevolence. He who can turn churlishly away +from contemplating the felicity of his fellow-beings, and can sit down +darkling and repining in his loneliness when all around is joyful, may +have his moments of strong excitement and selfish gratification, but he +wants the genial and social sympathies which constitute the charm of a +merry Christmas.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><a name="CHURCH_DECKING_AT_CHRISTMAS" id="CHURCH_DECKING_AT_CHRISTMAS"></a><b>CHURCH DECKING AT CHRISTMAS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">WILLIAM WORDSWORTH</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Would that our scrupulous sires had dared to leave</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Less scanty measure of those graceful rites</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And usages, whose due return invites</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A stir of mind too natural to deceive;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Giving the memory help when she could weave</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A crown for Hope!—I dread the boasted lights</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That all too often are but fiery blights,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Killing the bud o'er which in vain we grieve.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Go, seek, when Christmas snows discomfort bring,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The counter Spirit found in some gay church</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Green with fresh holly, every pew a perch</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In which the linnet or the thrush might sing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Merry and loud, and safe from prying search,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Strains offered only to the genial spring.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="SO_NOW_IS_COME_OUR_JOYFULST_FEAST" id="SO_NOW_IS_COME_OUR_JOYFULST_FEAST"></a>SO, NOW IS COME OUR JOYFULST FEAST</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">GEORGE WITHER</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So, now is come our joyfulst feast,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Let every man be jolly;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Each room with ivy leaves is drest,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And every post with holly.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though some churls at our mirth repine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Round your foreheads garlands twine;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Drown sorrow in a cup of wine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And let us all be merry.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now all our neighbours' chimnies smoke,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And Christmas logs are burning;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Their ovens they with baked meats choke,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And all their spits are turning.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Without the door let sorrow lie;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And if for cold it hap to die,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We'll bury't in a Christmas pie,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And evermore be merry.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now every lad is wondrous trim,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And no man minds his labour;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our lasses have provided them</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A bag-pipe and a tabor;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Young men and maids, and girls and boys,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Give life to one another's joys;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And you anon shall by their noise</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Perceive that they are merry.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Rank misers now do sparing shun;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Their hall of music soundeth;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And dogs thence with whole shoulders run,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">So all things there aboundeth.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The country folks themselves advance</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For crowdy-mutton's<a name="FNanchor_A_7" id="FNanchor_A_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_7" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> come out of France;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And Jack shall pipe, and Jill shall dance,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all the town be merry.</span><br /> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_7" id="Footnote_A_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_7"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Fiddlers.</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="FAIRY_FACES" id="FAIRY_FACES"></a>FAIRY FACES</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANON</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Out of the mists of childhood,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Steeped in a golden glory,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Come dreamy forms and faces,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Snatches of song and story;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Whispers of sweet, still faces;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Rays of ethereal glimmer,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">That gleam like sunny heavens,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Ne'er to grow colder or dimmer:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now far in the distance, now shining near,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lighting the snows of the shivering year.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Faces there are that tremble,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Bleared with a silent weeping,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Weird in a shadowy sorrow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">As if endless vigil keeping.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Faces of dazzling brightness,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">With childlike radiance lighted,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Flashing with many a beauty,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Nor care nor time had blighted.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But o'er them all there's a glamour thrown.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Bright with the dreamy distance alone.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Aglow in the Christmas halo,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Shining with heavenly lustre,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">These are the fairy faces</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">That round the hearthstone cluster.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">These the deep, tender records,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Sacred in all their meetness,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">That, wakening purest fancies,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Soften us with their sweetness;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As, gathered where flickering fagots burn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We welcome the holy season's return.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="MERRY_CHRISTMAS" id="MERRY_CHRISTMAS"></a>MERRY CHRISTMAS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANON</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the rush of the merry morning,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When the red burns through the gray,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the wintry world lies waiting</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For the glory of the day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then we hear a fitful rushing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Just without upon the stair,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">See two white phantoms coming,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Catch the gleam of sunny hair.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are they Christmas fairies stealing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Rows of little socks to fill?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are they angels floating hither</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With their message of good-will?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What sweet spell are these elves weaving,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As like larks they chirp and sing?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are these palms of peace from heaven</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That these lovely spirits bring?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Rosy feet upon the threshold,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Eager faces peeping through,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With the first red ray of sunshine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Chanting cherubs come in view;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Mistletoe and gleaming holly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Symbols of a blessed day,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In their chubby hands they carry,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Streaming all along the way.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Well we know them, never weary</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of this innocent surprise;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Waiting, watching, listening always</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With full hearts and tender eyes,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While our little household angels,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">White and golden in the sun,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Greet us with the sweet old welcome,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Merry Christmas, every one!"</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="A_MERRY_CHRISTMAS_TO_YOU" id="A_MERRY_CHRISTMAS_TO_YOU"></a>A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU</b></p> + +<p>THEODORE LEDYARD CUYLER</p> + +<p>My own boyhood was spent in a delightful home on one of the most +beautiful farms in Western New York—an experience that any city-bred +boy might envy. We had no religious festivals except Thanksgiving Day +and Christmas, and the latter was especially welcome, not only on +account of the good fare but its good gifts. Christmas was sacred to +Santa Claus, the patron saint of good boys and girls. We counted the +days until its arrival. If the night before the longed-for festival was +one of eager expectation in all our houses, it was a sad time in all +barn-yards and turkey-coops and chicken-roosts; for the slaughter was +terrible, and the cry of the feathered tribes was like "the mourning of +Hadadrimmon." As to our experiences within doors, they are portrayed in +Dr. Clement C. Moore's immortal lines, "The Night Before Christmas," +which is probably the most popular poem for children ever penned in +America. As the visits of Santa Claus in the night could only be through +the chimney, we hung our stockings where they would be in full sight. +Three score and ten years ago such modern contrivances as steam pipes, +and those unpoetical holes in the floor called "hot-air registers," were +as entirely unknown in our rural regions as gas-burners or telephones. +We had a genuine fire-place in our kitchen, big enough to contain an +enormous back-log, and broad enough for eight or ten people to form "a +circle wide" before it and enjoy the genial warmth.</p> + +<p>The last process before going to bed was to suspend our stockings in the +chimney jambs; and then we dreamed of Santa Claus, or if we awoke in the +night, we listened for the jingling of his sleigh-bells. At the peep of +day we were aroused by the voice of my good grandfather, who planted +himself in the stairway and shouted in a stentorian tone, "I wish you +all a Merry Christmas!" The contest was as to who should give the +salutation first, and the old gentleman determined to get the start of +us by sounding his greeting to the family before we were out of our +rooms. Then came a race for the chimney corner; all the stockings came +down quicker than they had gone up. What could not be contained in them +was disposed upon the mantelpiece, or elsewhere. I remember that I once +received an autograph letter from Santa Claus, full of good counsels; +and our colored cook told me that she awoke in the night and, peeping +into the kitchen, actually saw the veritable old visitor light a candle +and sit down at the table and write it! I believed it all as implicitly +as I believed the Ten Commandments, or the story of David and Goliath. +Happy days of childish credulity, when fact and fiction were swallowed +alike without a misgiving! During my long life I have seen many a +day-dream and many an air-castle go the way of Santa Claus and the +wonderful "Lamp of Aladdin."</p> + +<p>In after years, when I became a parent, my beloved wife and I, +determined to make the Christmastide one of the golden days of the +twelve months. In mid-winter, when all outside vegetation was bleak and +bare, the Christmas-tree in our parlor bloomed in many-colored beauty +and bounty. When the tiny candles were all lighted the children and our +domestics gathered round it and one of the youngsters rehearsed some +pretty juvenile effusion; as "they that had found great spoil." After +the happy harvesting of the magic tree in my own home, it was my custom +to spend the afternoon or evening in some mission-school and to watch +the sparkling eyes of several hundreds of children while a huge +Christmas-tree shed down its bounties. Fifty years ago, when the +degradation and miseries of the "Five-Points" were first invaded by +pioneer philanthropy, it was a thrilling sight to behold the denizens of +the slums and their children as they flocked into Mr. Pease's new "House +of Industry" and the "Brewery Mission" building. The angelic host over +the hills of Bethlehem did not make a more welcome revelation to them +"who had sat in darkness and the shadow of death." In these days the +squalid regions of our great cities are being explored and improved by +various methods of systematic beneficence. "Christian Settlements" are +established; Bureaus of Charity are formed and Associations for the +relief of the poor are organized. A noble work; but, after all, the most +effective "bureau" is one that, in a water-proof and a stout pair of +shoes, sallies off on a wintry night to some abode of poverty with not +only supplies for suffering bodies, but kind words of sympathy for +lonesome hearts. A dollar from a warm hand with a warm word is worth two +dollars sent by mail or by a messenger-boy. The secret of power in doing +good is <i>personal contact</i>. Our incarnate "Elder Brother" went in person +to the sick chamber. He anointed with His own hand the eyes of the blind +man and He touched the loathsome leper into health. The portentous chasm +between wealth and poverty must be bridged by a span of personal +kindness over which the footsteps must turn in only one direction. The +personal contact of self sacrificing benevolence with darkness, filth +and misery—that is the only remedy. Heart must touch heart. Benevolence +also cannot be confined to calendars. Those good people will exhibit the +most of the spirit of our Blessed Master who practice Christmas-giving +and cheerful, unselfish and zealous Christmas-living through all the +circling year.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_BELLSII" id="CHRISTMAS_BELLSII"></a>CHRISTMAS BELLS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANON</span><br /> +</p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There are sounds in the sky when the year grows old,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the winds of the winter blow—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When night and the moon are clear and cold,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the stars shine on the snow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or wild is the blast and the bitter sleet</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That beats on the window-pane;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But blest on the frosty hills are the feet</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of the Christmas time again!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Chiming sweet when the night wind swells,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Blest is the sound of the Christmas Bells!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Dear are the sounds of the Christmas chimes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In the land of the ivied towers,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And they welcome the dearest of festival times</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In this Western world of ours!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Bright on the holly and mistletoe bough</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The English firelight falls,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And bright are the wreathed evergreens now</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That gladden our own home walls!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And hark! the first sweet note that tells,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The welcome of the Christmas Bells!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The owl that sits in the ivy's shade,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Remote from the ruined tower,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall start from his drowsy watch afraid</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When the clock shall strike the hour;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And over the fields in their frosty rhyme</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The cheery sounds shall go,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And chime shall answer unto chime</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Across the moonlit snow!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">How sweet the lingering music dwells,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The music of the Christmas Bells.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It fell not thus in the East afar</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where the Babe in the manger lay;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The wise men followed their guiding star</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To the dawn of a milder day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the fig and the sycamore gathered green,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the palm-tree of Deborah rose;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Twas the strange first Christmas the world had seen—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And it came not in storm and snows.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Not yet on Nazareth's hills and dells</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Had floated the sound of Christmas Bells.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The cedars of Lebanon shook in the blast</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of their own cold mountain air;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But nought o'er the wintry plain had passed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To tell that the Lord was there!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The oak and the olive and almond were still,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In the night now worn and thin;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No wind of the winter-time roared from the hill</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To waken the guests at the inn;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">No dream to them the music tells</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">That is to come from the Christmas Bells!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The years that have fled like the leaves on the gale</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Since the morn of the Miracle-Birth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Have widened the fame of the marvellous tale</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Till the tidings have filled the earth!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And so in the climes of the icy North,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the lands of the cane and the palm,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By the Alpine cotter's blazing hearth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And in tropic belts of calm,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Men list to-night the welcome swells,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Sweet and clear, of Christmas Bells!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They are ringing to-night through the Norway firs,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And across the Swedish fells,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the Cuban palm-tree dreamily stirs</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To the sound of those Christmas Bells!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They ring where the Indian Ganges rolls</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Its flood through the rice-fields wide;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They swell the far hymns of the Lapps and Poles</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To the praise of the Crucified.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Sweeter than tones of the ocean's shells</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Mingle the chimes of the Christmas Bells!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The years come not back that have circled away</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With the past of the Eastern land,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When He plucked the corn on the Sabbath day</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And healed the withered hand:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But the bells shall join in a joyous chime</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For the One who walked the sea,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And ring again for the better time</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of the Christ that is to be!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Then ring!—for earth's best promise dwells</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">In ye, O joyous Prophet Bells!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ring out at the meeting of night and morn</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For the dawn of a happier day!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lo, the stone from our faith's great sepulchre torn</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The angels have rolled away!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And they come to us here in our low abode,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With words like the sunrise gleam,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come down and ascend by that heavenly road</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That Jacob saw in his dream.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Spirit of love, that in music dwells,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Open our hearts with the Christmas Bells!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Help us to see that the glad heart prays</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As well as the bended knees;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That there are in our own as in ancient days</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Scribes and the Pharisees;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That the Mount of Transfiguration still</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Looks down on these Christian lands,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the glorified ones from that holy hill</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Are reaching their helping hands.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">These be the words our music tells</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Of solemn joy, O Christmas Bells!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_BIRTH_OF_CHRIST" id="THE_BIRTH_OF_CHRIST"></a>THE BIRTH OF CHRIST</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ALFRED TENNYSON</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The time draws near the birth of Christ;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The moon is hid—the night is still;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Christmas bells from hill to hill</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Answer each other in the mist.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Four voices of four hamlets round,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From far and near, on mead and moor,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Swell out and fail, as if a door</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Were shut between me and the sound.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Each voice four changes on the wind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That now dilate and now decrease,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Peace and good-will, good-will and peace,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Peace and good-will to all mankind.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Rise, happy morn! rise, holy morn!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Draw forth the cheerful day from night;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">O Father! touch the east, and light</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The light that shone when hope was born!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_CHRISTMAS_CAROL" id="THE_CHRISTMAS_CAROL"></a>THE CHRISTMAS CAROL</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">WILLIAM WORDSWORTH</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The minstrels played their Christmas tune</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To-night beneath my cottage eaves;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While, smitten by a lofty moon,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The encircling laurels, thick with leaves,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gave back a rich and dazzling sheen</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That overpowered their natural green.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Through hill and valley every breeze</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Had sunk to rest, with folded wings:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Keen was the air, but could not freeze</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nor check the music of the strings;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So stout and hardy were the band</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That scraped the chords with strenuous hand!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And who but listened—till was paid</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Respect to every inmate's claim:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The greeting given, the music played,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In honor of each household name,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Duly pronounced with lusty call,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And "Merry Christmas" wished to all!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How touching, when, at midnight, sweep</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Snow-muffled winds, and all is dark,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To hear, and sink again to sleep!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Or, at an earlier call, to mark</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By blazing fire, the still suspense</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of self-complacent innocence;</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The mutual nod,—the grave disguise</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of hearts with gladness brimming o'er;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And some unbidden tears that rise</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For names once heard, and heard no more;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tears brightened by the serenade</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For infant in the cradle laid.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hail ancient Manners! sure defence,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where they survive, of wholesome laws;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Remnants of love whose modest sense</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Thus into narrow room withdraws;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hail, Usages of pristine mould,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And ye that guard them, Mountains old!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_AT_FEZZIWIGS_WAREHOUSE" id="CHRISTMAS_AT_FEZZIWIGS_WAREHOUSE"></a>CHRISTMAS AT FEZZIWIG'S WAREHOUSE</b></p> + +<p>CHARLES DICKENS</p> + +<p>"Yo ho! my boys," said Fezziwig. "No more work to-night; Christmas Eve, +Dick! Christmas, Ebenezer! Let's have the shutters up," cried old +Fezziwig with a sharp clap of his hands, "before a man can say Jack +Robinson...."</p> + +<p>"Hilli-ho!" cried old Fezziwig, skipping down from the high desk with +wonderful agility. "Clear away, my lads, and let's have lots of room +here! Hilli-ho, Dick! Cheer up, Ebenezer!"</p> + +<p>Clear away! There was nothing they wouldn't have cleared away, or +couldn't have cleared away, with old Fezziwig looking on. It was done in +a minute. Every movable was packed off, as if it were dismissed from +public life forevermore; the floor was swept and watered, the lamps were +trimmed, fuel was heaped upon the fire; and the warehouse was as snug, +and warm, and dry, and bright a ball-room as you would desire to see +upon a winter's night.</p> + +<p>In came a fiddler with a music-book, and went up to the lofty desk and +made an orchestra of it and tuned like fifty stomach-aches. In came Mrs. +Fezziwig, one vast, substantial smile. In came the three Misses +Fezziwig, beaming and lovable. In came the six followers whose hearts +they broke. In came all the young men and women employed in the business +In came the housemaid with her cousin the baker. In came the cook with +her brother's particular friend the milkman. In came the boy from over +the way, who was suspected of not having board enough from his master, +trying to hide himself behind the girl from next door but one who was +proved to have had her ears pulled by her mistress; in they all came, +anyhow and everyhow. Away they all went, twenty couple at once; hands +half round and back again the other way; down the middle and up again; +round and round in various stages of affectionate grouping, old top +couple always turning up in the wrong place; new top couple starting off +again, as soon as they got there; all top couples at last, and not a +bottom one to help them.</p> + +<p>When this result was brought about the fiddler struck up "Sir Roger de +Coverley." Then old Fezziwig stood out to dance with Mrs. Fezziwig. Top +couple, too, with a good stiff piece of work cut out for them; three or +four and twenty pairs of partners; people who were not to be trifled +with; people who would dance and had no notion of walking.</p> + +<p>But if they had been thrice as many—Oh, four times as many—old +Fezziwig would have been a match for them, and so would Mrs. Fezziwig. +As to her, she was worthy to be his partner in every sense of the term. +If that's not high praise, tell me higher and I'll use it. A positive +light appeared to issue from Fezziwig's calves. They shone in every part +of the dance like moons. You couldn't have predicted at any given time +what would become of them next. And when old Fezziwig and Mrs. Fezziwig +had gone all through the dance; advance and retire; both hands to your +partner, bow and courtesy, corkscrew, thread the needle, and back again +to your place; Fezziwig "cut"—cut so deftly that he appeared to wink +with his legs, and came upon his feet again without a stagger.</p> + +<p>When the clock struck eleven the domestic ball broke up. Mr. and Mrs. +Fezziwig took their stations, one on either side of the door, and +shaking hands with every person individually, as he or she went out, +wished him or her a Merry Christmas!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_BELLSIII" id="CHRISTMAS_BELLSIII"></a>CHRISTMAS BELLS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">JOHN KEBLE</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Wake me to-night, my mother dear,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That I may hear</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Christmas Bells, so soft and clear,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To high and low glad tidings tell,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How God the Father loved us well;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How God the Eternal Son</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Came to undo what we had done.</span><br /> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2> + +<h2>SIGNIFICANCE AND SPIRIT</h2> + +<br /> + + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_CARMEN" id="A_CHRISTMAS_CARMEN"></a>A CHRISTMAS CARMEN</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">JOHN G. WHITTIER</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">I</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sound over all waters, reach out from all lands,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The chorus of voices, the clasping of hands;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sing hymns that were sung by the stars of the morn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sing songs of the angels when Jesus was born!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">With glad jubilations</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Bring hope to the nations!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The dark night is ending and dawn has begun:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Rise, hope of the ages, arise like the sun,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">All speech flow to music, all hearts beat as one!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">II</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sing the bridal of nations! with chorals of love</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sing out the war-vulture and sing in the dove,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Till the hearts of the peoples keep time in accord</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the voice of the world is the voice of the Lord!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Clasp hands of the nations</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">In strong gratulations:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The dark night is ending and dawn has begun;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Rise, hope of the ages, arise like the sun,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">All speech flow to music, all hearts beat as one!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">III</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Blow, bugles of battle, the marches of peace;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">East, west, north, and south let the long quarrel cease:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sing the song of great joy that the angels began,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sing of glory to God and of good-will to man!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Hark! joining in chorus</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The heavens bend o'er us!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The dark night is ending and dawn has begun;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Rise, hope of the ages, arise like the sun,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">All speech flow to music, all hearts beat as one!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="THE_SPIRIT_OF_CHRISTMAS" id="THE_SPIRIT_OF_CHRISTMAS"></a>THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS</b></p> + +<p>From "Pickwick Papers."</p> + +<p>CHARLES DICKENS</p> + +<p>And numerous indeed are the hearts to which Christmas brings a brief +season of happiness and enjoyment. How many families whose members have +been dispersed and scattered far and wide, in the restless struggles of +life, are then re-united, and meet once again in that happy state of +companionship and mutual good-will, which is a source of such pure and +unalloyed delight, and one so incompatible with the cares and sorrows of +the world, that the religious belief of the most civilized nations, and +the rude traditions of the roughest savages, alike number it among the +first joys of a future state of existence, provided for the blest and +happy! How many old recollections, and how many dormant sympathies, does +Christmas time awaken!</p> + +<p>We write these words now, many miles distant from the spot at which, +year after year, we met on that day, a merry and joyous circle. Many of +the hearts that throb so gaily then, have ceased to beat; many of the +looks that shone so brightly then, have ceased to glow; the hands we +grasped, have grown cold; the eyes we sought, have hid their lustre in +the grave; and yet the old house, the room, the merry voices and smiling +faces, the jest, the laugh, the most minute and trivial circumstance +connected with those happy meetings, crowd upon our mind at each +recurrence of the season, as if the last assemblage had been but +yesterday. Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions +of our childish days, that can recall to the old man the pleasures of +his youth, and transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of +miles away, back to his own fireside and his quiet home!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="ON_GOOD_WISHES_AT_CHRISTMAS" id="ON_GOOD_WISHES_AT_CHRISTMAS"></a>ON GOOD WISHES AT CHRISTMAS</b></p> + +<p>FRISWELL</p> + +<p>At Christmas, which is a good holiday for most of us, but especially for +that larger and better half of us, the young, there is, as everybody +knows, a profusion of good things. The final cause of a great many +existences is Christmas Day. How many of that vast flock of geese, which +are now peacefully feeding over the long, cold wolds of Norfolk, or are +driven gabbling and hissing by the gozzard to their pasture—how many of +those very geese were called into being simply for Christmas Day! In the +towns, with close streets and fetid courts, where the flaring gas at the +corner of an alley marks the only bright spot, a gin-palace, there a +goose-club is held; and there, for a short time, is the resting-place, +side by side with a bottle of gin, of one of those wise-looking and +self-concentrated gobblers, whose name men have generally, and, as we +think, unjustly, applied to the silly one amongst themselves.</p> + +<p>But it is only the profusion of good things, of cakes, puddings, spices, +oranges, and fruits, from sunny Italy and Spain, from India and from +Asia, from America, North and South, and even from distant Australia; it +is not that amongst us, as long ago with the <i>Franklin </i>in Chaucer, that +at this time—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"It snowës in our house</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of meate and drinke;"</span><br /> + +<p>it is not that we have huge loads of beef chines, ribs, sirloins, legs, +necks, breasts, and shoulders of mutton, fillets of veal, whole hogs, +and pigs in various stages, from the tender suckling to the +stiff-jointed father of a family, whose "back hair" makes good +clothes-brushes, and whose head is brought in at college feasts; it is +not that the air gives up its choicest fowl, and the waters yield their +best fish: plentiful as these are with us, they are nothing in profusion +to the kindly greeting and good wishes that fly about in the cold +weather, and that circulate from land's end to land's end. The whole +coast of England is surrounded by a general "shake hands." The +coast-guard on their wintry walks do not greet each other more surely +than old friends all over England do: one clasps another, and another a +third, till from Dover to London and so on to York, from Yarmouth on the +east to Bristol on the west, from John O'Groat's house at the extreme +north to the Land's End, the very toe-nail of England on the south—a +kindly greeting, we may be sure, will pass. And a cheerful thing it is, +on this day of universal equality, on this day which—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"To the cottage and the crown,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Brought tidings of salvation down,"</span><br /> + +<p>to think that we can touch and hold each other with friendly hands all +over our land. We all of us shake hands on Christmas Day. Leigh Hunt had +a quaint fancy that he had, as it were, by lineal descent, shaken hands +with Milton. He would argue thus: he knew a man who had shaken hands +with Dr. Johnson, who had clasped the hand of him who had shaken +Dryden's right hand, who himself had thus greeted Andrew Marvell, who +knew Master Elwood, the Quaker friend of Milton, who knew Milton +himself; and thus, though our Sovereign has her hand kissed, not shaken, +by her subjects, yet doubtless she will clasp the hands of her children, +who, shaking those of others, will let the greeting and the good wishes +descend to the lowest on that ladder of society which we are all trying +to climb.</p> + +<p>As for hearty good wishes, spoken in all kinds of voices, from the +deepest bass to the shrillest treble, we are sure that they circulate +throughout the little island, and are borne on the wings of the post all +over the seas. Erasmus, coming to England in Henry VIII's time, was +struck with the deep heartiness of our wishes—good, ay, and bad too; +but he most admired the good ones. Other nations ask in their greetings +how a man carries himself, or how doth he stand with the world, or how +doth he find himself; but the English greet with a pious wish that God +may give one a good morning or a good evening, good day, or "god'd'en," +as the old writers have it; and when we part we wish that "God may be +with you," though we now clip it into "Good b'ye."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_SONG" id="A_CHRISTMAS_SONG"></a>A CHRISTMAS SONG</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">WILLIAM COX BENNETT</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Blow, wind, blow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sing through yard and shroud;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pipe it shrilly and loud,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Aloft as well as below;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sing in my sailor's ear</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The song I sing to you,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Come home, my sailor true,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For Christmas that comes so near."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Go, wind, go,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hurry his home-bound sail,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Through gusts that are edged with hail,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Through winter, and sleet, and snow;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Song, in my sailor's ear,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Your shrilling and moans shall be,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For he knows they sing him to me</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And Christmas that comes so near.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="SERY" id="SERY"></a>SERY</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">RICHARD WATSON GILDER</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With wild surprise</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Four great eyes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In two small heads,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From neighboring beds</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Looked out—and winked—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And glittered and blinked</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At a very queer sight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the dim starlight.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As plain as can be</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A fairy tree</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Flashes and glimmers</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And shakes and shimmers.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Red, green and blue</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Meet their view;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Silver and gold</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Their sharp eyes behold;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Small moon, big stars;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And jams in jars,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And cakes, and honey</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And thimbles, and money,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pink dogs, blue cats,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little squeaking rats,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And candles, and dolls,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And crackers, and polls,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A real bird that sings,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And tokens and favors,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all sorts of things</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For the little shavers.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Four black eyes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Grow big with surprise;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And then grow bigger</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When a tiny figure,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Jaunty and airy,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(Is it a fairy?)</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From the tree-top cries,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Open wide! Black Eyes!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come, children, wake now!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Your joys you may take now!"</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Quick as you can think</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Twenty small toes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In four pretty rows,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Like little piggies pink,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All kick in the air—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And before you can wink</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The tree stands bare!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_SONGII" id="A_CHRISTMAS_SONGII"></a>A CHRISTMAS SONG</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">TUDOR JENKS</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When mother-love makes all things bright,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When joy comes with the morning light,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When children gather round their tree,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Thou Christmas Babe,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">We sing of Thee!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When manhood's brows are bent in thought,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To learn what men of old have taught,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When eager hands seek wisdom's key,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Wise Temple Child,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">We learn of Thee!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When doubts assail, and perils fright,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When, groping blindly in the night,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We strive to read life's mystery,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Man of the Mount,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">We turn to Thee!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When shadows of the valley fall,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When sin and death the soul appall,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">One light we through the darkness see—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Christ on the Cross,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">We cry to Thee!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when the world shall pass away,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And dawns at length the perfect day,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In glory shall our souls made free,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Thou God enthroned,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Then worship Thee.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="CHRISTMASVII" id="CHRISTMASVII"></a>CHRISTMAS</b></p> + +<p>(A Selection from "Dreamthorp")</p> + +<p>ALEXANDER SMITH</p> + +<p>Sitting here, I incontinently find myself holding a levee of departed +Christmas nights. Silently, and without special call, into my study of +imagination come these apparitions, clad in snowy mantles, brooched and +gemmed with frosts. Their numbers I do not care to count, for I know +they are the numbers of many years. The visages of two or three are sad +enough, but on the whole 'tis a congregation of jolly ghosts. The +nostrils of my memory are assailed by a faint odor of plum-pudding and +burnt brandy. I hear a sound as of light music, a whisk of women's +dresses whirled round in dance, a click as of glasses pledged by +friends. Before one of these apparitions is a mound, as of a new-made +grave, on which the snow is lying. I know, I know! Drape thyself not in +white like the others, but in mourning stole of crape; and instead of +dance music, let there haunt around thee the service for the dead! I +know that sprig of mistletoe, O Spirit in the midst! Under it I swung +the girl I loved—girl no more now than I am a boy—and kissed her spite +of blush and pretty shriek. And thee, too, with fragrant trencher in +hand, over which blue tongues of flame are playing, I do know—most +ancient apparition of them all. I remember thy reigning night. Back to +very days of childhood am I taken by the ghostly raisins simmering in a +ghostly brandy flame. Where now the merry boys and girls that thrust +their fingers in thy blaze? And now, when I think of it, thee also would +I drape in black raiment, around thee also would I make the burial +service murmur.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">- - - - -</span><br /> + +<p>This, then, is Christmas, 1862. Everything is silent in Dreamthorp. The +smith's hammer reposes beside the anvil. The weaver's flying shuttle is +at rest. Through the clear wintry sunshine the bells this morning rang +from the gray church tower amid the leafless elms, and up the walk the +villagers trooped in their best dresses and their best faces—the latter +a little reddened by the sharp wind: mere redness in the middle aged; in +the maids, wonderful bloom to the eyes of their lovers—and took their +places decently in the ancient pews. The clerk read the beautiful +prayers of our Church, which seem more beautiful at Christmas than at +any other period. For that very feeling which breaks down at this time +the barriers which custom, birth, or wealth have erected between man and +man, strikes down the barrier of time which intervenes between the +worshipper of to-day and the great body of worshippers who are at rest +in their graves. On such a day as this, hearing these prayers, we feel a +kinship with the devout generations who heard them long ago. The devout +lips of the Christian dead murmured the responses which we now murmur; +along this road of prayer did their thoughts of our innumerable dead, +our brothers and sisters in faith and hope, approach the Maker, even as +ours at present approach Him. Prayers over, the clergyman—who is no +Boanerges, of Chrysostom, golden-mouthed, but a loving, genial-hearted, +pious man, the whole extent of his life from boyhood until now, full of +charity and kindly deeds, as autumn fields with heavy wheaten ears; the +clergyman, I say—for the sentence is becoming unwieldy on my hands, and +one must double back to secure connexion—read out in that silvery voice +of his, which is sweeter than any music to my ear, those chapters of the +New Testament that deal with the birth of the Saviour. And the red-faced +rustic congregation hung on the good man's voice as he spoke of the +Infant brought forth in a manger, of the shining angels that appeared in +the mid-air to the shepherds, of the miraculous star that took its +station in the sky, and of the wise men who came from afar and laid +their gifts of frankincense and myrrh at the feet of the child. With the +story every one was familiar, but on that day, and backed by the +persuasive melody of the reader's voice, it seemed to all quite new—at +least, they listened attentively as if it were. The discourse that +followed possessed no remarkable thoughts; it dealt simply with the +goodness of the Maker of heaven and earth, and the shortness of time, +with the duties of thankfulness and charity to the poor; and I am +persuaded that every one who heard returned to his house in a better +frame of mind. And so the service remitted us all to our own homes, to +what roast-beef and plum-pudding slender means permitted, to gatherings +around cheerful fires, to half-pleasant, half-sad remembrances of the +dead and the absent.</p> + +<p>From sermon I have returned like the others, and it is my purpose to +hold Christmas alone. I have no one with me at table, and my own +thoughts must be my Christmas guests. Sitting here, it is pleasant to +think how much kindly feeling exists this present night in England. By +imagination I can taste of every table, pledge every toast, silently +join in every roar of merriment. I become a sort of universal guest. +With what propriety is this jovial season, placed amid dismal December +rains and snows! How one pities the unhappy Australians, with whom +everything is turned topsy-turvy, and who holds Christmas at midsummer! +The face of Christmas glows all the brighter for the cold. The heart +warms as the frost increases. Estrangements which have embittered the +whole year, melt in to-night's hospitable smile. There are warmer +handshakings on this night than during the by-past twelve months. Friend +lives in the mind of friend. There is more charity at this time than at +any other. You get up at midnight and toss your spare coppers to the +half-benumbed musicians whiffling beneath your windows, although at any +other time you would consider their performance a nuisance, and call +angrily for the police. Poverty, and scanty clothing, and fireless +grates, come home at this season to the bosoms of the rich, and they +give of their abundance. The very red-breast of the woods enjoys his +Christmas feast. Good feeling incarnates itself into plum-pudding. The +Master's words, "The poor ye have always with you," wear at this time a +deep significance. For at least one night on each year over all +Christendom there is brotherhood. And good men, sitting amongst their +families, or by a solitary fire like me, when they remember the light, +that shone over the poor clowns huddling on the Bethlehem plains +eighteen hundred years ago, the apparition of shining angels overhead, +the song "Peace on earth and good-will toward men," which for the first +hallowed the midnight air,—pray for that strain's fulfilment, that +battle and strife may vex the nations no more, that not only on +Christmas eve, but the whole year round, men shall be brethren owning +one Father in heaven.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">- - - - -</span><br /> + +<p>Once again, for the purpose of taking away all solitariness of feeling, +and of connecting myself, albeit only in fancy, with the proper gladness +of the time, let me think of the comfortable family dinners now being +drawn to a close, of the good wishes uttered, and the presents made, +quite valueless in themselves, yet felt to be invaluable from the +feelings from which they spring; of the little children, by sweetmeats +lapped in Elysium; and of the pantomime, pleasantest Christmas sight of +all, with the pit a sea of grinning delight, the boxes a tier of beaming +juvenility, the galleries, piled up to the far-receding roof, a mass of +happy laughter which a clown's joke brings down in mighty avalanches. In +the pit, sober people relax themselves, and suck oranges, and quaff +ginger-pop; in the boxes, Miss, gazing through her curls, thinks the +Fairy Prince the prettiest creature she ever beheld, and Master, that to +be a clown must be the pinnacle of human happiness: while up in the +galleries the hard literal world is for an hour sponged out and +obliterated; the chimney-sweep forgets, in his delight when the +policeman comes to grief, the harsh call of his master, and Cinderella, +when the demons are foiled, and the long parted lovers meet and embrace +in a paradise of light and pink gauze, the grates that must be scrubbed +to-morrow. All bands and trappings of toil are for one hour loosened by +the hands of imaginative sympathy. What happiness a single theatre can +contain! And those of maturer years, or of more meditative temperament, +sitting at the pantomime, can extract out of the shifting scenes +meanings suitable to themselves; for the pantomime is a symbol or +adumbration of human life. Have we not all known Harlequin, who rules +the roast, and has the pretty Columbine to himself? Do we not all know +that rogue of a clown with his peculating fingers, who brazens out of +every scrape, and who conquers the world by good humour and ready wit? +And have we not seen Pantaloons not a few, whose fate it is to get all +the kicks and lose all the halfpence, to fall through all the trap +doors, break their shins over all the barrows, and be forever captured +by the policeman, while the true pilferer, the clown, makes his escape +with the booty in his possession? Methinks I know the realities of which +these things are but the shadows; have met with them in business, have +sat with them at dinner. But to-night no such notions as these intrude; +and when the torrent of fun, and transformation, and practical joking +which rushed out of the beautiful fairy world gathered up again, the +high-heaped happiness of the theatre will disperse itself, and the +Christmas pantomime will be a pleasant memory the whole year through. +Thousands on thousands of people are having their midriffs tickled at +this moment; in fancy I see their lighted faces, in memory I see their +mirth.</p> + +<p>By this time I should think every Christmas dinner at Dreamthorp or +elsewhere has come to an end. Even now in the great cities the theatres +will be dispersing. The clown has wiped the paint off his face. +Harlequin has laid aside his wand, and divested himself of his +glittering raiment; Pantaloon, after refreshing himself with a pint of +porter, is rubbing his aching joints; and Columbine, wrapped up in a +shawl, and with sleepy eyelids, has gone home in a cab. Soon, in the +great theatre, the lights will be put out, and the empty stage will be +left to ghosts. Hark! midnight from the church tower vibrates through +the frosty air. I look out on the brilliant heaven, and see a milky way +of powdery splendour wandering through it, and clusters and knots of +stars and planets shining serenely in the blue frosty spaces; and the +armed apparition of Orion, his spear pointing away into immeasurable +space, gleaming overhead; and the familiar constellation of the Plough +dipping down into the west; and I think when I go in again that there is +one Christmas the less between me and my grave.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_CAROLII" id="CHRISTMAS_CAROLII"></a>CHRISTMAS CAROL</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">PHILLIPS BROOKS</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The earth has grown old with its burden of care,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But at Christmas it always is young,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The heart of the jewel burns lustrous and fair,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And its soul full of music bursts forth on the air,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When the song of the angels is sung.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is coming, Old Earth, it is coming to-night!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On the snowflakes which cover thy sod</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The feet of the Christ-child fall gentle and white,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the voice of the Christ-child tells out with delight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That mankind are the children of God.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On the sad and the lonely, the wretched and poor,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The voice of the Christ-child shall fall;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And to every blind wanderer open the door</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of hope that he dared not to dream of before,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With a sunshine of welcome for all.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The feet of the humblest may walk in the field</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where the feet of the Holiest trod,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This, then, is the marvel to mortals revealed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When the silvery trumpets of Christmas have pealed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That mankind are the children of God.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_END_OF_THE_PLAY" id="THE_END_OF_THE_PLAY"></a>THE END OF THE PLAY</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The play is done—the curtain drops,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Slow-falling to the prompter's bell:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A moment yet the actor stops,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And looks around, to say farewell.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is an irksome word and task;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And, when he's laughed and said his say,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He shows, as he removes his mask,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A face that's anything but gay.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">One word, ere yet the evening ends,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Let's close it with a parting rhyme;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And pledge a hand to all young friends,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As fits the merry Christmas time.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On life's wide scene you, too, have parts</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That fate erelong shall bid you play;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Good-night!—with honest, gentle hearts</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A kindly greeting go alway!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Good-night!—I'd say the griefs, the joys,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Just hinted in this mimic page,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The triumphs and defeats of boys,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Are but repeated in our age.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd say your woes were not less keen,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Your hopes more vain than those of men,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Your pangs or pleasures of fifteen</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">At forty-five played o'er again.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd say we suffer and we strive,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Not less nor more as men than boys,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With grizzled beards at forty-five</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As erst at twelve in corduroys;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And if, in time of sacred youth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">We learned at home to love and pray,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pray Heaven that early love and truth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">May never wholly pass away.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And in the world as in the school</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I'd say how fate may change and shift,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The prize be sometimes to the fool,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The race not always to the swift:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The strong may yield, the good may fall,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The great man be a vulgar clown,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The knave be lifted over all,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The kind cast pitilessly down.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who knows the inscrutable design?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Blessèd be He who took and gave!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Why should your mother, Charles, not mine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Be weeping at her darling's grave?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We bow to Heaven that willed it so,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That darkly rules the fate of all,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That sends the respite or the blow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That's free to give or to recall.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This crowns his feast with wine and wit,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who brought him to that mirth and state?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His betters, see, below him sit,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Or hunger hopeless at the gate!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who bade the mud from Dives's wheel</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To spurn the rags of Lazarus?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come, brother, in that dust we'll kneel,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Confessing Heaven that ruled it thus.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So each shall mourn, in life's advance,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Dear hopes, dear friends, untimely killed;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall grieve for many a forfeit chance,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And longing passion unfulfilled.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Amen!—whatever fate be sent,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Pray God the heart may kindly glow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Although the head with cares be bent,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And whitened with the winter snow!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come wealth or want, come good or ill,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Let young and old accept their part,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And bow before the awful will,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And bear it with an honest heart.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who misses or who wins the prize,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Go, lose or conquer, as you can;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But if you fail, or if you rise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Be each, pray God, a gentleman!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A gentleman, or old or young!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">(Bear kindly with my humble lays;)</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The sacred chorus first was sung</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Upon the first of Christmas days;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The shepherds heard it overhead,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The joyful angels raised it then:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Glory to Heaven on high," it said,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"And peace on earth to gentle men!"</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My song, save this, is little worth;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I lay the weary pen aside,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And wish you health and love and mirth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As fits the solemn Christmas-tide.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As fits the holy Christmas birth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Be this, good friends, our carol still:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be peace on earth, be peace on earth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To men of gentle will!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTS_NATIVITY" id="CHRISTS_NATIVITY"></a>CHRIST'S NATIVITY</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">HENRY VAUGHAN</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Awake, glad heart! get up and sing!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is the Birthday of thy King.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Awake! awake!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">The sun doth shake</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Light from his locks, and, all the way</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Breathing perfumes, doth spice the day.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Awake! awake! hark how th' wood rings,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Winds whisper, and the busy springs</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">A concert make!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Awake! awake!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Man is their high-priest, and should rise</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To offer up the sacrifice.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I would I were some bird, or star,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fluttering in woods, or lifted far</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Above this inn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">And road of sin!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then either star or bird should be</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shining or singing still to thee.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I would I had in my best part</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fit rooms for thee! or that my heart</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Where so clean as</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Thy manger was!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But I am all filth, and obscene;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet, if thou wilt, thou canst make clean.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sweet Jesu! will then. Let no more</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This leper haunt and soil thy door!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Cure him, ease him,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">O release him!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And let once more, by mystic birth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Lord of life be born in earth.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_DREAMS" id="CHRISTMAS_DREAMS"></a>CHRISTMAS DREAMS</b></p> + +<p>CHRISTOPHER NORTH</p> + +<p>To-morrow is Merry Christmas; and when its night descends there will be +mirth and music, and the light sounds of the merry-twinkling feet within +these now so melancholy walls—and sleep now reigning over all the house +save this one room, will be banished far over the sea—and morning will +be reluctant to allow her light to break up the innocent orgies.</p> + +<p>Were every Christmas of which we have been present at the celebration, +painted according to nature—what a Gallery of Pictures! True that a +sameness would pervade them all—but only that kind of sameness that +pervades the nocturnal heavens. One clear night always is, to common +eyes, just like another; for what hath any night to show but one moon +and some stars—a blue vault, with here a few braided, and there a few +castellated, clouds? yet no two nights ever bore more than a family +resemblance to each other before the studious and instructed eye of him +who has long communed with Nature, and is familiar with every smile and +frown on her changeful, but not capricious, countenance. Even so with +the Annual Festivals of the heart. Then our thoughts are the stars that +illumine those skies—and on ourselves it depends whether they shall be +black as Erebus, or brighter than Aurora.</p> + +<p>"Thoughts! that like spirits trackless come and go"—is a fine line of +Charles Lloyd's. But no bird skims, no arrow pierces the air, without +producing some change in the Universe, which will last to the day of +doom. No coming and going is absolutely trackless; nor irrecoverable by +Nature's law is any consciousness, however ghostlike; though many a one, +even the most blissful, never does return, but seems to be buried among +the dead. But they are not dead—but only sleep; though to us who recall +them not, they are as they had never been, and we, wretched ingrates, +let them lie for ever in oblivion! How passing sweet when of their own +accord they arise to greet us in our solitude!—as a friend who, having +sailed away to a foreign land in our youth, has been thought to have +died many long years ago, may suddenly stand before us, with face still +familiar and name reviving in a moment, and all that he once was to us +brought from utter forgetfulness close upon our heart.</p> + +<p>My Father's House! How it is ringing like a grove in spring, with the +din of creatures happier, a thousand times happier, than all the birds +on earth. It is the Christmas Holidays—Christmas Day itself—Christmas +Night—and Joy in every bosom intensifies Love. Never before were we +brothers and sisters so dear to one another—never before had our hearts +so yearned towards the authors of our being—our blissful being! There +they sat—silent in all that outcry—composed in all that +disarray—still in all that tumult; yet, as one or other flying imp +sweeps round the chair, a father's hand will playfully strive to catch a +prisoner—a mother's gentler touch on some sylph's disordered symar be +felt almost as a reproof, and for a moment slacken the fairy flight. One +old game treads on the heels of another—twenty within the hour—and +many a new game never heard of before nor since, struck out by the +collision of kindred spirits in their glee, the transitory fancies of +genius inventive through very delight. Then, all at once, there is a +hush, profound as ever falls on some little plat within a forest when +the moon drops behind the mountain, and small green-robed People of +Peace at once cease their pastime, and vanish. For she—the +Silver-Tongued—is about to sing an old ballad, words and air alike +hundreds of years old—and sing she doth, while tears begin to fall, +with a voice too mournfully beautiful long to breathe below—and, ere +another Christmas shall have come with the falling snows, doomed to be +mute on earth—but to be hymning in Heaven.</p> + +<p>Of that House—to our eyes the fairest of earthly dwellings—with its +old ivyed turrets, and orchard-garden bright alike with fruit and with +flowers, not one stone remains. The very brook that washed its +foundations has vanished along with them—and a crowd of other +buildings, wholly without character, has long stood where here a single +tree, and there a grove, did once render so lovely that small demesne; +which, how could we, who thought it the very heart of Paradise, even for +one moment have believed was one day to be blotted out of being, and we +ourselves—then so linked in love that the band which bound us +altogether was, in its gentle pressure, felt not nor understood—to be +scattered far and abroad, like so many leaves that after one wild +parting rustle are separated by roaring wind-eddies, and brought +together no more! The old Abbey—it still survives; and there, in that +corner of the burial-ground, below that part of the wall which was last +in ruins, and which we often climbed to reach the flowers and +nests—there, in hopes of a joyful resurrection, lie the Loved and +Venerated—for whom, even now that so many grief-deadening years have +fled, we feel, in this holy hour, as if it were impiety so utterly to +have ceased to weep—so seldom to have remembered!—And then, with a +powerlessness of sympathy to keep pace with youth's frantic grief, the +floods we all wept together—at no long interval—on those pale and +placid faces as they lay, most beautiful and most dreadful to behold, in +their coffins.</p> + +<p>We believe that there is genius in all childhood. But the creative joy +that makes it great in its simplicity dies a natural death or is killed, +and genius dies with it. In favored spirits, neither few nor many, the +joy and the might survive; for you must know that unless it be +accompanied with imagination, memory is cold and lifeless. The forms it +brings before us must be inspired with beauty—that is, with affection +or passion. All minds, even the dullest, remember the days of their +youth; but all cannot bring back the indescribable brightness of that +blessed season. They who would know what they once were, must not merely +recollect but they must imagine, the hills and valleys—if any such +there were—in which their childhood played, the torrents, the +waterfalls, the lakes, the heather, the rocks, the heaven's imperial +dome, the raven floating only a little lower than the eagle in the sky. +To imagine what he then heard and saw, he must imagine his own nature. +He must collect from many vanished hours the power of his untamed heart, +and he must, perhaps, transfuse also something of his maturer mind into +these dreams of his former being, thus linking the past with the present +by a continuous chain, which, though often invisible, is never broken. +So is it too with the calmer affections that have grown within the +shelter of a roof. We do not merely remember, we imagine our father's +house, the fireside, all his features then most living, now dead and +buried; the very manner of his smile, every tone of his voice. We must +combine with all the passionate and plastic power of imagination the +spirit of a thousand happy hours into one moment; and we must invest +with all that we ever felt to be venerable such an image as alone can +satisfy our filial hearts. It is thus that imagination, which first +aided the growth of all our holiest and happiest affections, can +preserve them to us unimpaired—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"For she can give us back the dead,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Even in the loveliest looks they wore."</span><br /> + +<p>Then came a New Series of Christmases, celebrated, one year in this +family, another year in that—none present but those whom Charles Lamb +the Delightful calleth the "old familiar faces;" something in all +features, and all tones of voice, and all manners, betokening origin +from one root—relations all, happy, and with no reason either to be +ashamed or proud of their neither high nor humble birth, their lot being +cast within that pleasant realm, "the Golden Mean," where the dwellings +are connecting links between the hut and the hall—fair edifices +resembling manse or mansion-house, according as the atmosphere expands +or contracts their dimensions—in which Competence is next-door neighbor +to Wealth, and both of them within the daily walk of Contentment.</p> + +<p>Merry Christmases they were indeed—one Lady always presiding, with a +figure that once had been the stateliest among the stately, but then +somewhat bent, without being bowed down, beneath an easy weight of most +venerable years. Sweet was her tremulous voice to all her +grandchildren's ears. Nor did these solemn eyes, bedimmed into a +pathetic beauty, in any degree restrain the glee that sparkled in orbs +that had as yet shed not many tears, but tears of joy or pity. Dearly +she loved all those mortal creatures whom she was soon about to leave; +but she sat in sunshine even within the shadow of death; and the "voice +that called her home" had so long been whispering in her ear, that its +accents had become dear to her, and consolatory every word that was +heard in the silence, as from another world.</p> + +<p>Whether we were indeed all so witty as we thought ourselves—uncles, +aunts, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, cousins, and "the rest," it +might be presumptuous in us, who were considered by ourselves and a few +others not the least amusing of the whole set, at this distance of time +to decide—especially in the affirmative; but how the roof did ring with +sally, pun, retort, and repartee! Ay, with pun—a species of +impertinence for which we have therefore a kindness even to this day. +Had incomparable Thomas Hood had the good fortune to have been born a +cousin of ours, how with that fine fancy of his would he have shone at +those Christmas festivals, eclipsing us all! Our family, through all its +different branches, has ever been famous for bad voices, but good ears; +and we think we hear ourselves—all those uncles and aunts, nephews and +nieces, and cousins—singing now! Easy it is to "warble melody" as to +breathe air. But we hope harmony is the most difficult of all things to +people in general, for to us it was impossible; and what attempts ours +used to be at Seconds! Yet the most woful failures were rapturously +encored; and ere the night was done we spoke with most extraordinary +voices indeed, every one hoarser than another, till at last, walking +home with a fair cousin, there was nothing left it but a tender glance +of the eye—a tender pressure of the hand—for cousins are not +altogether sisters, and although partaking of that dearest character, +possess, it may be, some peculiar and appropriate charms of their own; +as didst thou, Emily the "Wild-cap!"—That <i>soubriquet </i>all forgotten +now—for now thou art a matron, nay a Grandam, and troubled with an elf +fair and frolicsome as thou thyself wert of yore, when the gravest and +wisest withstood not the witchery of thy dancings, thy singings, and thy +showering smiles.</p> + +<p>On rolled Suns and Seasons—the old died—the elderly became old—and +the young, one after another, were wafted joyously away on the wings of +hope, like birds almost as soon as they can fly, ungratefully forsaking +their nests and the groves in whose safe shadow they first essayed their +pinions; or like pinnaces that, after having for a few days trimmed +their snow-white sails in the land-locked bay, close to whose shores of +silvery sand had grown the trees that furnished timber both for hull and +mast, slip their tiny cables on some summer day, and gathering every +breeze that blows, go dancing over the waves in sunshine, and melt far +off into the main. Or, haply, some were like fair young trees, +transplanted during no favorable season, and never to take root in +another soil, but soon leaf and branch to wither beneath the tropic sun, +and die almost unheeded by those who knew not how beautiful they had +been beneath the dews and mists of their own native climate.</p> + +<p>Vain images! and therefore chosen by fancy not too plainly to touch the +heart. For some hearts grew cold and forbidding with selfish +cares—some, warm as ever in their own generous glow, were touched by +the chill of Fortune's frowns, ever worst to bear when suddenly +succeeding her smiles—some, to rid themselves of painful regrets, took +refuge in forgetfulness, and closed their eyes to the past—duty +banished some abroad, and duty imprisoned others at home—estrangements +there were, at first unconscious and unintended, yet erelong, though +causeless, complete—changes were wrought insensibly, invisibly, even in +the innermost nature of those who being friends knew no guile, yet came +thereby at last to be friends no more—unrequited love broke some +bonds—requited love relaxed others—the death of one altered the +conditions of many—and so—year after year—the Christmas Meeting was +interrupted—deferred—till finally it ceased with one accord, unrenewed +and unrenewable. For when Some Things cease for a time—that time turns +out to be forever.</p> + +<p>Survivors of those happy circles! wherever ye be—should these imperfect +remembrances of days of old chance, in some thoughtful pause of life's +busy turmoil, for a moment to meet your eyes, let there be towards the +inditer a few throbs of revived affection in your hearts—for his, +though "absent long and distant far," has never been utterly forgetful +of the loves and friendships that charmed his youth. To be parted in +body is not to be estranged in spirit—and many a dream and many a +vision, sacred to nature's best affections, may pass before the mind of +one whose lips are silent. "Out of sight out of mind" is rather the +expression of a doubt—of a fear—than a belief or a conviction. The +soul surely has eyes that can see the objects it loves, through all +intervening darkness—and of those more especially dear it keeps within +itself almost undimmed images, on which, when they know it not, think it +not, believe it not, it often loves to gaze, as on relics imperishable +as they are hallowed.</p> + +<p>All hail! rising beautiful and magnificent through the mists of +morning—ye Woods, Groves, Towers, and Temples, overshadowing that +famous Stream beloved by all the Muses! Through this midnight +hush—methinks we hear faint and far-off sacred music—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The pealing anthem swells the note of praise!"</span><br /> + +<p>How steeped now in the stillness of moonlight are all those pale, +pillared Churches, Courts and Cloisters, Shrines and Altars, with here +and there a Statue standing in the shade, or Monument sacred to the +memory of the pious—the immortal dead. Some great clock is striking +from one of many domes—from the majestic Tower of St. Mary +Magdalen—and in the deepened hush that follows the solemn sound, the +mingling waters of the Cherwell and the Isis soften the severe silence +of the holy night.</p> + +<p>Remote from kindred, and from all the friendships that were the native +growth of the fair fields where our boyhood and our youth had roamed and +meditated and dreamed, those were indeed years of high and lofty mood +which held us in converse with the shades of great Poets and ages of old +in Rhedicyna's hallowed groves, still, serene, and solemn, as that Attic +Academe where divine Plato, with all Hybla on his lips, discoursed such +excellent music that his life seemed to the imagination spiritualized—a +dim reminiscence of some former state of being. How sank then the +Christmas Service of that beautiful Liturgy into our hearts! Not +faithless we to the simple worship that our forefathers had loved; but +Conscience told us there was no apostasy in the feelings that rose +within us when that deep organ began to blow, that choir of youthful +voices so sweetly to join the diapason,—our eyes fixed all the while on +that divine Picture over the Altar, of our Saviour</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Bearing his cross up rueful Calvary."</span><br /> + +<p>The City of Palaces disappears—and in the setting sunlight we behold +mountains of soft crimson snow! The sun hath set, and even more +beautiful are the bright-starred nights of winter, than summer in all +its glories beneath the broad moons of June. Through the woods of +Windermere, from cottage to cottage, by coppice-pathways winding up to +dwellings among the hill-rocks where the birch-trees cease to grow—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Nodding their heads, before us go,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The merry minstrelsy."</span><br /> + +<p>They sing a salutation at every door, familiarly naming old and young by +their Christian names; and the eyes that look upward from the vales to +the hanging huts among the plats and cliffs, see the shadows of the +dancers ever and anon crossing the light of the star-like window, and +the merry music is heard like an echo dwelling in the sky. Across those +humble thresholds often did we on Christmas-week nights of +yore—wandering through our solitary silvan haunts, under the branches +of trees within whose hollow trunks the squirrel slept—venture in, +unasked perhaps, but not unwelcome, and, in the kindly spirit of the +season, did our best to merrify the Festival by tale or song. And now +that we behold them not, are all those woods, and cliffs, and rivers, +and tarns, and lakes, as beautiful as when they softened and brightened +beneath our living eyes, half-creating, as they gazed, the very world +they worshipped! And are all those hearths as bright as of yore, without +the shadow of our figure! And the roofs, do they ring as mirthfully, +though our voice be forgotten. We hang over Westmoreland, an +unobserved—but observant star. Mountains, hills, rocks, knolls, vales, +woods, groves, single trees, dwelling—all asleep! O Lakes! but we are +indeed, by far too beautiful! O fortunate Isles! too fair for human +habitation, fit abode for the Blest! It will not hide itself—it will +not sink into the earth—it will rise; and risen, it will stand steady +with its shadow in the overpowering moonlight, that ONE TREE! that ONE +HOUSE!—and well might the sight of ye two together—were it +harder—break our heart. But hard at all it is not—therefore it is but +crushed.</p> + +<p>Can it be that there we are utterly forgotten! No star hanging higher +than the Andes in heaven—but sole-sitting at midnight in a small +chamber—a melancholy man are we—and there seems a smile of +consolation, O Wordsworth! on thy sacred Bust.</p> + +<p>Alas! how many heavenly days, "seeming immortal in their depth of rest," +have died and been forgotten! Treacherous and ungrateful is our memory +even of bliss that overflowed our being as light our habitation. Our +spirit's deepest intercommunion with nature has no place in her +records—blanks are there that ought to have been painted with +imperishable imagery, and steeped in sentiment fresh as the morning on +life's golden hills. Yet there is mercy in this dispensation—for who +can bear to behold the light of bliss re-arising from the past on the +ghastlier gloom of present misery? The phantoms that will not come when +we call on them to comfort us, are too often at our side when in our +anguish we could almost pray that they might be reburied in oblivion. +Such hauntings as these are not as if they were visionary—they come and +go like forms and shapes still imbued with life. Shall we vainly stretch +out our arms to embrace and hold them fast, or as vainly seek to +intrench ourselves by thought of this world against their visitation? +The soul in its sickness knows not whether it be the duty of love to +resign itself to indifference or to despair. Shall it enjoy life, they +being dead? Shall we, the survivors, for yet a little while, walk in +other companionship out into the day, and let the sunbeams settle on +their heads as they used to do, or cover them with dust and ashes, and +show to those in heaven that love for them is now best expressed by +remorse and penitence?</p> + +<p>Sometimes we have fears about our memory—that it is decaying; for, +lately, many ordinary yet interesting occurrences and events, which we +regarded at the time with pain or pleasure, have been slipping away +almost into oblivion, and have often alarmed us of a sudden by their +return, not to any act of recollection, but of themselves, sometimes +wretchedly out of place and season, the mournful obtruding upon the +merry, and worse, the merry upon the mournful—confusion, by no fault of +ours, of piteous and gladsome faces—tears where smiles were a duty as +well as a delight, and smiles where nature demanded, and religion +hallowed, a sacrifice of tears.</p> + +<p>For a good many years we have been tied to town in winter by fetters as +fine as frost-work filigree, which we could not break without destroying +a whole world of endearment. That seems an obscure image; but it means +what the Germans would call in English—our winter environment. We are +imprisoned in a net; yet we can see it when we choose—just as a bird +can see, when he chooses, the wires of his cage, that are invisible in +his happiness, as he keeps hopping and fluttering about all day long, or +haply dreaming on his perch with his poll under his plumes—as free in +confinement as if let loose into the boundless sky. That seems an +obscure image too; but we mean, in truth, the prison unto which we doom +ourselves no prison is; and we have improved on that idea, for we have +built our own—and are prisoner, turnkey, and jailer all in one, and +'tis noiseless as the house of sleep. Or what if we declare that +Christopher North is a king in his palace, with no subjects but his own +thoughts—his rule peaceful over those lights and shadows—and +undisputed to reign over them his right divine.</p> + +<p>The opening year in a town, now answers in all things to our heart's +desire. How beautiful the smoky air! The clouds have a homely look as +they hang over the happy families of houses, and seem as if they loved +their birthplace;—all unlike those heartless clouds that keep +<i>stravaiging </i>over mountain-tops, and have no domicile in the sky! Poets +speak of living rocks, but what is their life to that of houses? Who +ever saw a rock with eyes—that is, with windows? Stone-blind all, and +stone-deaf, and with hearts of stone; whereas who ever saw a house +without eyes—that is, windows? Our own is an Argus; yet the good old +Conservative grudges not the assessed taxes—his optics are as cheerful +as the day that lends them light, and they love to salute the setting +sun, as if a hundred beacons, level above level, were kindled along a +mountain side. He might safely be pronounced a madman who preferred an +avenue of trees to a street. Why, trees have no chimneys; and, were you +to kindle a fire in the hollow of an oak, you would soon be as dead as a +Druid. It won't do to talk to us of sap, and the circulation of sap. A +grove in winter, hole and branch—leaves it has none—is as dry as a +volume of sermons. But a street, or a square, is full of "vital sparks +of heavenly flame" as a volume of poetry, and the heart's blood +circulates through the system like rosy wine.</p> + +<p>But a truce to comparisons; for we are beginning to feel contrition for +our crime against the country, and, with humbled head and heart, we +beseech you to pardon us—ye rocks of Pavey-Ark, the pillared palaces of +the storms—ye clouds, now wreathing a diadem for the forehead of +Helvellyn—ye trees, that hang the shadows of your undying beauty over +the "one perfect chrysolite," of blessed Windermere!</p> + +<p>Our meaning is transparent now as the hand of an apparition waving peace +and good-will to all dwellers in the land of dreams. In plainer but not +simpler words (for words are like flowers, often rich in their +simplicity—witness the Lily, and Solomon's Song)—Christian people all, +we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New-Year, in town or in +country—or in ships at sea.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="KEEPING_CHRISTMAS" id="KEEPING_CHRISTMAS"></a>KEEPING CHRISTMAS</b></p> + +<p>Romans, xiv, 6: <i>He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord,</i></p> + +<p>HENRY VAN DYKE</p> + +<p>[From "The Spirit of Christmas."]</p> + +<p>It is a good thing to observe Christmas day. The mere marking of times +and seasons, when men agree to stop work and make merry together, is a +wise and wholesome custom. It helps one to feel the supremacy of the +common life over the individual life. It reminds a man to set his own +little watch, now and then, by the great clock of humanity which runs on +sun time.</p> + +<p>But there is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and +that is, keeping Christmas.</p> + +<p>Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to +remember what other people have done for you; to ignore what the world +owes you, and to think what you owe the world; to put your rights in the +background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to +do a little more than your duty in the foreground; to see that your +fellowmen are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their +faces to their hearts, hungry for joy; to own that probably the only +good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of +life, but what you are going to give to life; to close your book of +complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you +for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness—are you willing +to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.</p> + +<p>Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and the desires of +little children; to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who +are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask +yourself whether you love them enough; to bear in mind the things that +other people have to bear in their hearts; to try to understand what +those who live in the same house with you really want, without waiting +for them to tell you; to trim your lamp so that it will give more light +and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall +behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your +kindly feelings, with the gate open—are you willing to do these things +even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.</p> + +<p>Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the +world—stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death—and +that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years +ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep +Christmas.</p> + +<p>And if you keep it for a day, why not always?</p> + +<p>But you can never keep it alone.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="MARK_WELL_MY_HEAVY_DOLEFUL_TALE" id="MARK_WELL_MY_HEAVY_DOLEFUL_TALE"></a>MARK WELL MY HEAVY DOLEFUL TALE</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANONYMOUS</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mark well my heavy doleful tale,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For Twelfth-day now is come,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And now I must no longer sing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And say no words but mum;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For I perforce must take my leave</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of all my dainty cheer,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Plum-porridge, roast beef, and minced pies,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">My strong ale and my beer.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Kind-hearted Christmas, now adieu,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For I with thee must part,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And for to take my leave of thee</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Doth grieve me at the heart;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thou wert an ancient housekeeper,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And mirth with meat didst keep,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But thou art going out of town,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Which makes me for to weep.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God knoweth whether I again</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Thy merry face shall see,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which to good-fellows and the poor</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That was so frank and free.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thou lovedst pastime with thy heart,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And eke good company;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pray hold me up for fear I swoon,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For I am like to die.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come, butler, fill a brimmer up</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To cheer my fainting heart,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That to old Christmas I may drink</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Before he doth depart;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And let each one that's in this room</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With me likewise condole,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And for to cheer their spirits sad</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Let each one drink a bowl.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when the same it hath gone round</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Then fall unto your cheer,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For you do know that Christmas time</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It comes but once a year.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But this good draught which I have drunk</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Hath comforted my heart,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For I was very fearful that</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">My stomach would depart.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thanks to my master and my dame</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That doth such cheer afford;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God bless them, that each Christmas they</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">May furnish thus their board.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My stomach having come to me,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I mean to have a bout,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Intending to eat most heartily;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Good friends, I do not flout.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_CAROLIII" id="A_CHRISTMAS_CAROLIII"></a>A CHRISTMAS CAROL</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the bleak mid-winter</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Frosty wind made moan,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Earth stood hard as iron,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Water like a stone;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Snow had fallen, snow on snow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Snow on snow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the bleak mid-winter</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Long ago.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our God, Heaven cannot hold him</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nor earth sustain;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Heaven and earth shall flee away,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When he comes to reign.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the bleak mid-winter</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A stable-place sufficed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Lord God Almighty,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Jesus Christ.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Angels and archangels</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">May have gathered there;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Cherubim and seraphim</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Thronged the air.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But only His Mother,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In her maiden bliss,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Worshipped her Beloved</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With a kiss.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What can I give Him,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Poor as I am?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If I were a shepherd</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I would bring a lamb;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If I were a wise man,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I would do my part,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet what I can I give Him,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Give my heart.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_GLORIOUS_SONG_OF_OLD" id="THE_GLORIOUS_SONG_OF_OLD"></a>THE GLORIOUS SONG OF OLD</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">EDMUND H. SEARS</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It came upon the midnight clear,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That glorious song of old,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From angels bending near the earth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To touch their harps of gold,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Peace on the earth, good-will to men,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From heaven's all-gracious King"—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The world in solemn stillness lay</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To hear the angels sing.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Still through the cloven skies they come</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With peaceful wings unfurled,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And still their heavenly music floats</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">O'er all the weary world;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Above its sad and lowly plains</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">They bend on hovering wing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And ever o'er its Babel-sounds</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The blessed angels sing.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But with the woes of sin and strife</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The world has suffered long;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Beneath the angel-strain have rolled</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Two thousand years of wrong.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And man at war with man hears not</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The love-song which they bring;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, hush the noise, ye men of strife,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And hear the angels sing!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And ye beneath life's crushing load,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whose forms are bending low,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who toil along the climbing way</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With painful steps and slow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Look now! for glad and golden hours</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Come swiftly on the wing:—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, rest beside the weary road</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And hear the angels sing!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For lo! the days the hastening on</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">By prophet-bards foretold,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When with the ever-circling years</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Comes round the age of gold;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When peace shall over all the earth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Its ancient splendors fling,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the whole world give back the song</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Which now the angels sing.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_CAROL_FOR_CHILDRE" id="A_CHRISTMAS_CAROL_FOR_CHILDRE"></a>A CHRISTMAS CAROL FOR CHILDREN</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">MARTIN LUTHER</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Good news from heaven the angels bring,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Glad tidings to the earth they sing:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To us this day a child is given,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To crown us with the joy of heaven.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This is the Christ, our God and Lord,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who in all need shall aid afford:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He will Himself our Saviour be,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From sin and sorrow set us free.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To us that blessedness He brings,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which from the Father's bounty springs:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That in the heavenly realm we may</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With Him enjoy eternal day.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All hail, Thou noble Guest, this morn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whose love did not the sinner scorn!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In my distress Thou cam'st to me:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What thanks shall I return to Thee?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Were earth a thousand times as fair,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Beset with gold and jewels rare,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She yet were far too poor to be</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A narrow cradle, Lord, for Thee.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ah, dearest Jesus, Holy Child!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Within my heart, that it may be</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A quiet chamber kept for Thee.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Praise God upon His heavenly throne,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who gave to us His only Son:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For this His hosts, on joyful wing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A blest New Year of mercy sing.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="ON_SANTA_CLAUS" id="ON_SANTA_CLAUS"></a>ON SANTA CLAUS</b></p> + +<p>GEORGE A. BAKER, JR.</p> + +<p>Brave old times those were. In the first half of the seventeenth +century, we mean; before there was any such place as New York and +Manhattan Island was occupied mostly by woods, and had a funny little +Dutch town, known as New Amsterdam, sprouting out of the southern end of +it. Those were the days of solid comfort, of mighty pipes, and unctuous +doughnuts. Winter had not yet been so much affected by artificiality as +he is now-a-days, and was contented to be what he is, not trying to pass +himself off for Spring; and Christmas—well, it was Christmas. Do you +know why? Because in those times Santa Claus used to live in a great old +house in the midst of an evergreen forest, just back of the Hudson, and +about half-way between New Amsterdam and Albany. A house built out of +funny little Dutch bricks, with gables whose sides looked like +stair-cases, and a roof of red tiles with more weathercocks and chimneys +sticking out of it than you could count. Phew, how cold it was there! +The wind roared and shouted around the house, and the snow fell steadily +half the year, so that the summers never melted it away till winter came +again. And Santa Claus thought that was the greatest pleasure in life: +for he loved to have enormous fires in the great fire-places, and the +colder it was, the bigger fires he would have, and the louder the winds +roared around his chimney. There he sat and worked away all the year +round, making dolls, and soldiers, and Noah's arks, and witches, and +every other sort of toy you can think of. When Christmas Eve came he'd +harness up his reindeers, Dasher, and Prancer, and Vixen, and the rest +of them, and wrap himself up in furs, and light his big pipe, and cram +his sled full of the doll-babies and Noah's arks, and all the other toys +he'd been making, and off he'd go with a great shout and tremendous +ringing of sleigh-bells. Before morning he'd be up and down every +chimney in New Amsterdam, filling the stout grey yarn stockings with +toys, and apples, and ginger-bread, laughing and chuckling so all the +while, that the laughs and chuckles didn't get out of the air for a week +afterwards.</p> + +<p>But the old house has gone to ruin, and Santa Claus doesn't live there +any longer. You see he married about forty years ago; his wife was a +Grundy, daughter of old Mrs. Grundy, of Fifth Avenue, of whom you've all +heard. She married him for his money, and couldn't put up with his plain +way of living and his careless jollity. He is such an easy-going, good +natured old soul, that she manages him without any trouble. So the first +thing she did was to make him change his name to St. Nicholas; then she +made him give up his old house, and move into town; then she sent away +the reindeers, for she didn't know what Ma <i>would </i>say to such an +outlandish turn-out; then she threw away his pipe because it was vulgar, +and the first Christmas Eve that he went off and stayed out all night +she had hysterics, and declared she'd go home to her Ma, and get a +divorce if he ever did such a thing again. She'd have put a stop to his +giving away toys every year, too, only she thought it looked well, and +as it was, she wouldn't let him make them himself any more, but +compelled him to spend enormous sums in bringing them from Paris, and +Vienna, and Nuremberg.</p> + +<p>So now Santa Claus is St. Nicholas, and lives in a brown stone house on +Fifth Avenue, a great deal handsomer than he can afford, and keeps a +carriage, not because he wants it, but because Mrs. Shoddy, next door, +keeps one; and loves, not to be jolly himself and to make everybody else +so, but to please his wife's mother. He has to give an awful pull, what +with his wife's extravagance, and the high prices of Parisian and +Viennese toys, to make both ends meet, although he does speculate in +stocks, and is very lucky. Instead of looking forward to Christmas with +pleasure, and thinking what a good time he will have, he pulls out his +ledger, and groans, and wonders how on earth he's going to make his +presents this year, and thinks he would stop giving them entirely, only +he's so mortally afraid of his mother-in-law, and he knows what she'd +say if he did. So he borrows money wherever he can, and sends over to +Paris for fans, and opera-glasses, and bon-bon boxes, and jewelry, and +when they come he sits down in his parlor and lets his wife tell him +just what to do with them. So she takes out her list and runs over the +names; she has all the rich people down, for she is a religious woman, +and the Bible says "unto him that hath, it shall be given." This is the +way she talks: "The little Croesuses must have some very elegant things, +of course; their mother's a horrid old cat, but Croesus could help you +very much in business. And there are the Centlivres; we must pick out +something magnificent for them; they give a party Christmas night: of +course the presents will be on exhibition, and I shall sink with shame +if any one else's are handsomer than ours." So she goes on, until all +the rich people are disposed of. Then Santa Claus asks: "How about the +Brinkers, my dear?" The Brinkers are great favorites of his. "Good +gracious, dearest! How often have I told you, you mustn't manifest such +an interest in those Brinkers? What would Ma say if she knew you +associated with such common people!" "But, I'm Dutch myself, pet." "Of +course you are, darling, but there's no need of letting every one know +it!" St. Nicholas hardly dares to do it, but he finally suggests very +meekly: "The poor children, my darling." "Bother the poor children, my +dear!" They're a most affectionate couple, you know. Then St. Nicholas +sighs and sighs, and sends for his messengers, and they all come in with +long faces, and take off big packages to the Croesuses and the +Centlivres, and the rest of them. The messengers do their work entirely +as a matter of business, so there isn't a sign of a laugh, nor a symptom +of a chuckle in the air next day. The little Croesuses first cry, +because they haven't received more, and then fight over what they have; +then they eat too much French candy, and get sick and cross, and the +whole house is filled with their noise. So mamma has a headache; and +papa longs for his office, and misses the tick-tick of the stock +telegraph, and thinks what a confounded nuisance holidays are. That is +what Christmas is like in good society.</p> + +<p>But I must tell you a secret. Away up in the fourth-story of his grand +house, where his wife never goes, St. Nicholas has a little workshop, +and there he sits whenever he gets a chance, making the most wonderful +dolls, and gorgeous soldiers, and miraculous jumping-jacks, and tin +horns—such quantities of tin horns! Some one ought to speak to him +about those tin horns. But after all they please the poor children, so +we suppose it's all right. Now do you know what he does with these +things? On Christmas Eve he gets his old sled down from the stable away +up by the North Pole, and as soon as his wife is fast asleep, he puts on +his old furs and gets out from under his shirts in his bureau drawer a +Dutch pipe, three times as big as the one his wife threw away, and off +he goes. He tumbles down all the poor people's chimneys, and fills up +the stockings to overflowing, and plants gorgeous Christmas trees in all +the Mission schools.</p> + +<p>He has a glorious good time, and laughs and chuckles tremendously, +except when, once in a while, he thinks of what would happen if his wife +found him out.</p> + +<p>So there's a little fun going on after all.</p> + +<p>Do you know, if it were not for this performance of his, we should wish +with all our heart that St. Nicholas were dead and buried. But we must +say, we wish his wife would die, and that all the Grundy family would +follow her good example, for between them they've spoiled a good many +jolly people besides St. Nicholas.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_CAROLIV" id="A_CHRISTMAS_CAROLIV"></a>A CHRISTMAS CAROL</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">There's a song in the air!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">There's a star in the sky!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">There's a mother's deep prayer</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And a baby's low cry!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the star rains its fire while the Beautiful sing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a king.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">There's a tumult of joy</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">O'er the wonderful birth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">For the virgin's sweet boy</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Is the Lord of the earth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ay! the star rains its fire and the Beautiful sing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a king.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">In the light of that star</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Lie the ages impearled;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And that song from afar</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Has swept over the world.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Every hearth is aflame, and the Beautiful sing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the homes of the nations that Jesus is King.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">We rejoice in the light,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And we echo the song</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">That comes down through the night</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">From the heavenly throng.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ay! we shout to the lovely evangel they bring,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And we greet in his cradle our Saviour and King!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="AN_OFFERTORY" id="AN_OFFERTORY"></a>AN OFFERTORY</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">MARY MAPES DODGE</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, the beauty of the Christ Child,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The gentleness, the grace,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The smiling, loving tenderness,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The infantile embrace!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">All babyhood he holdeth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">All motherhood enfoldeth—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Yet who hath seen his face?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, the nearness of the Christ Child,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">When, for a sacred space,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">He nestles in our very homes—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Light of the human race!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">We know him and we love him,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">No man to us need prove him—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Yet who hath seen his face?</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_SONGIII" id="CHRISTMAS_SONGIII"></a>CHRISTMAS SONG</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">LYDIA A.C. WARD</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Why do bells for Christmas ring?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Why do little children sing?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Once a lovely, shining star,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Seen by shepherds from afar,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gently moved until its light</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Made a manger-cradle bright.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There a darling baby lay</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pillowed soft upon the hay.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And his mother sang and smiled,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"This is Christ, the holy child."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So the bells for Christmas ring,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So the little children sing.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_CARO" id="A_CHRISTMAS_CARO"></a>A CHRISTMAS CARO</b>L</span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">CHRISTIAN BURKE</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The trees are hung with crystal lamps, the world lies still and white,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the myriad little twinkling stars are sharp with keener light;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The moon sails up the frost-clear sky and silvers all the snow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As she did, perchance, that Christmas night, two thousand years ago!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Good people, are you waking?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Give us food and give us wine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">For the sake of blessed Mary</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And her Infant Son Divine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Who was born the world's Redeemer—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">A Saviour—yours and mine!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Long ago angelic harpers sang the song we sing to-day,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the drowsy folk of Bethlehem may have listened as they lay!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But eager shepherds left their flocks, and o'er the desert wild</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The kingly sages journeyed to adore the Holy Child!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Has any man a quarrel?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Has another used you ill?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The friendly word you meant to say,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Is that unspoken still?—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Then, remember, 'twas the Angels</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Brought glad tidings of good will!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of all the gifts of Christmas, are you fain to win the best?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lo! the Christ-child still is waiting Himself to be your guest;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No lot so high or lowly but He will take His part,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If you do but bid Him welcome to a clean and tender heart.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Are you sleeping, are you waking?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">To the Manger haste away,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And you shall see a wond'rous sight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Amid the straw and hay.—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">'Tis Love Himself Incarnate</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">As on this Christmas Day!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="A_SIMPLE_BILL_OF_FARE_FOR_A_CHRISTMAS_DINNE" id="A_SIMPLE_BILL_OF_FARE_FOR_A_CHRISTMAS_DINNE"></a>A SIMPLE BILL OF FARE FOR A CHRISTMAS DINNE</b>R</p> + +<p>H.H.</p> + +<p>All good recipe-books give bills of fare for different occasions, bills +of fare for grand dinners, bills of fare for little dinners; dinners to +cost so much per head; dinners "which can be easily prepared with one +servant," and so on. They give bills of fare for one week; bills of fare +for each day in a month, to avoid too great monotony in diet. There are +bills of fare for dyspeptics; bills of fare for consumptives; bills of +fare for fat people, and bills of fare for thin; and bills of fare for +hospitals, asylums, and prisons, as well as for gentlemen's houses. But +among them all, we never saw the one which we give below. It has never +been printed in any book; but it has been used in families. We are not +drawing on our imagination for its items. We have sat at such dinners; +we have helped prepare such dinners; we believe in such dinners; they +are within everybody's means. In fact, the most marvellous thing about +this bill of fare is that the dinner does not cost a cent. Ho! all ye +that are hungry and thirsty, and would like so cheap a Christmas dinner, +listen to this:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">BILL OF FARE FOR A CHRISTMAS DINNER</span><br /> + +<p><i>First Course</i>—Gladness.</p> + +<p>This must be served hot. No two housekeepers make it alike; no fixed +rule can be given for it. It depends, like so many of the best things, +chiefly on memory; but, strangely enough, it depends quite as much on +proper forgetting as on proper remembering. Worries must be forgotten. +Troubles must be forgotten. Yes, even sorrow itself must be denied and +shut out. Perhaps this is not quite possible. Ah! we all have seen +Christmas days on which sorrow would not leave our hearts nor our +houses. But even sorrow can be compelled to look away from its sorrowing +for a festival hour which is so solemnly joyous at Christ's Birthday. +Memory can be filled full of other things to be remembered. No soul is +entirely destitute of blessings, absolutely without comfort. Perhaps we +have but one. Very well; we can think steadily of that one, if we try. +But the probability is that we have more than we can count. No man has +yet numbered the blessings, the mercies, the joys of God. We are all +richer than we think; and if we once set ourselves to reckoning up the +things of which we are glad, we shall be astonished at their number.</p> + +<p>Gladness, then, is the first item, the first course on our bill of fare +for a Christmas dinner.</p> + +<p><i>Entrées</i>—Love garnished with Smiles.</p> + +<p>GENTLENESS, with sweet-wine sauce of Laughter.</p> + +<p>GRACIOUS SPEECH, cooked with any fine, savory herbs, such as Frollery, +which is always in season, or Pleasant Reminiscence, which no one need +be without, as it keeps for years, sealed or unsealed.</p> + +<p><i>Second Course</i>—HOSPITALITY.</p> + +<p>The precise form of this also depends on individual preferences. We are +not undertaking here to give exact recipes, only a bill of fare.</p> + +<p>In some houses Hospitality is brought on surrounded with Relatives. This +is very well. In others, it is dished up with Dignitaries of all sorts; +men and women of position and estate for whom the host has special +likings or uses. This gives a fine effect to the eye, but cools quickly, +and is not in the long-run satisfying.</p> + +<p>In a third class, best of all, it is served in simple shapes, but with a +great variety of Unfortunate Persons,—such as lonely people from +lodging-houses, poor people of all grades, widows and childless in their +affliction. This is the kind most preferred; in fact, never abandoned by +those who have tried it.</p> + +<p><i>For Dessert</i>—MIRTH, in glasses.</p> + +<p>GRATITUDE and FAITH beaten together and piled up in snowy shapes. These +will look light if run over night in the moulds of Solid Trust and +Patience.</p> + +<p>A dish of the bonbons Good Cheer and Kindliness with every-day mottoes; +Knots and Reasons in shape of Puzzles and Answers; the whole ornamented +with Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver, of the kind mentioned in the +Book of Proverbs.</p> + +<p>This is a short and simple bill of fare. There is not a costly thing in +it; not a thing which cannot be procured without difficulty.</p> + +<p>If meat be desired, it can be added. That is another excellence about +our bill of fare. It has nothing in it which makes it incongruous with +the richest or the plainest tables. It is not overcrowded by the +addition of roast goose and plum-pudding; it is not harmed by the +addition of herring and potatoes. Nay, it can give flavor and richness +to broken bits of stale bread served on a doorstep and eaten by beggars.</p> + +<p>We might say much more about this bill of fare. We might, perhaps, +confess that it has an element of the supernatural; that its origin is +lost in obscurity; that, although, as we said, it has never been printed +before, it has been known in all ages; that the martyrs feasted upon it; +that generations of the poor, called blessed by Christ, have laid out +banquets by it; that exiles and prisoners have lived on it; and the +despised and forsaken and rejected in all countries have tasted it. It +is also true that when any great king ate well and throve on his dinner, +it was by the same magic food. The young and the free and the glad, and +all rich men in costly houses, even they have not been well fed without +it.</p> + +<p>And though we have called it a Bill of Fare for a Christmas Dinner, that +is only that men's eyes may be caught by its name, and that they, +thinking it a specialty for festival, may learn and understand its +secret, and henceforth, laying all their dinners according to its magic +order, may "eat unto the Lord."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_BALLADE_OF_OLD_LOVES" id="A_BALLADE_OF_OLD_LOVES"></a>A BALLADE OF OLD LOVES</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">CAROLYN WELLS</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who is it stands on the polished stair,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A merry, laughing, winsome maid,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From the Christmas rose in her golden hair</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To the high-heeled slippers of spangled suède</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A glance, half daring and half afraid,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Gleams from her roguish eyes downcast;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Already the vision begins to fade—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">'Tis only a ghost of a Christmas Past.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who is it sits in that high-backed chair,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Quaintly in ruff and patch arrayed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With a mockery gay of a stately air</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As she rustles the folds of her old brocade,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Merriest heart at the masquerade?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ah, but the picture is passing fast</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Back to the darkness from which it strayed—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">'Tis only a ghost of a Christmas Past.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who is it whirls in a ball-room's glare,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Her soft white hand on my shoulder laid,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Like a radiant lily, tall and fair,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">While the violins in the corner played</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The wailing strains of the Serenade?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Oh, lovely vision, too sweet to last—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">E'en now my fancy it will evade—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">'Tis only a ghost of a Christmas Past.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">L'ENVOI</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Rosamond! look not so dismayed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All of my heart, dear love, thou hast</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Jealous, beloved? Of a shade?—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">'Tis only a ghost of a Christmas Past.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="BALLADE_OF_CHRISTMAS_GHOSTS" id="BALLADE_OF_CHRISTMAS_GHOSTS"></a>BALLADE OF CHRISTMAS GHOSTS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANDREW LANG</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Between the moonlight and the fire</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In winter twilights long ago,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What ghosts we raised for your desire,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To make your merry blood run slow!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How old, how grave, how wise we grow!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No Christmas ghost can make us chill,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Save those that troop in mournful row,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The ghosts we all can raise at will!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The beasts can talk in barn and byre</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On Christmas Eve, old legends know.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As year by year the years retire,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We men fall silent then I trow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Such sights hath memory to show,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Such voices from the silence thrill,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Such shapes return with Christmas snow,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The ghosts we all can raise at will.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, children of the village choir,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Your carols on the midnight throw,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, bright across the mist and mire,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ye ruddy hearths of Christmas glow!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Beat back the dread, beat down the woe,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let's cheerily descend the hill;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be welcome all, to come or go,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The ghosts we all can raise at will.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">ENVOY</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Friend, sursum corda, soon or slow</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We part, like guests who've joyed their fill;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Forget them not, nor mourn them so,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The ghosts we all can raise at will.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="HANG_UP_THE_BABYS_STOCKING" id="HANG_UP_THE_BABYS_STOCKING"></a>HANG UP THE BABY'S STOCKING</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">[Emily Huntington Miller]</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hang up the baby's stocking:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Be sure you don't forget;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The dear little dimpled darling!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">She ne'er saw Christmas yet;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But I've told her all about it,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And she opened her big blue eyes,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I'm sure she understood it—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">She looked so funny and wise.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Dear! what a tiny stocking!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It doesn't take much to hold</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Such little pink toes as baby's</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Away from the frost and cold.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But then for the baby's Christmas</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">It will never do at all;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Why, Santa wouldn't be looking</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For anything half so small.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I know what will do for the baby.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I've thought of the very best plan:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'll borrow a stocking of grandma,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The longest that ever I can;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And you'll hang it by mine, dear mother,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Right here in the corner, so!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And write a letter to Santa,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And fasten it on to the toe.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Write, "This is the baby's stocking</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That hangs in the corner here;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You never have seen her, Santa,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For she only came this year;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But she's just the blessedest baby!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And now, before you go,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Just cram her stocking with goodies,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From the top clean down to the toe."</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_NEWEST_THING_IN_CHRISTMAS_CAROLS" id="THE_NEWEST_THING_IN_CHRISTMAS_CAROLS"></a>THE NEWEST THING IN CHRISTMAS CAROLS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANONYMOUS</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God rest you, merry gentlemen!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">May nothing you dismay;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not even the dyspeptic plats</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Through which you'll eat your way;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor yet the heavy Christmas bills</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The season bids you pay;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No, nor the ever tiresome need</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of being to order gay;</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor yet the shocking cold you'll catch</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">If fog and slush hold sway;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor yet the tumbles you must bear</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">If frost should win the day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor sleepless nights—they're sure to come—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When "waits" attune their lay;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor pantomimes, whose dreariness</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Might turn macassar gray;</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor boisterous children, home in heaps,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And ravenous of play;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor yet—in fact, the host of ills</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Which Christmases array.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God rest you, merry gentlemen,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">May none of these dismay!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_LETTER_FROM_AUSTRALIA" id="A_CHRISTMAS_LETTER_FROM_AUSTRALIA"></a>A CHRISTMAS LETTER FROM AUSTRALIA</b></p> + +<p>DOUGLAS SLADEN</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis Christmas, and the North wind blows; 'twas two years yesterday</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Since from the Lusitania's bows I looked o'er Table Bay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A tripper round the narrow world, a pilgrim of the main,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Expecting when her sails unfurled to start for home again.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis Christmas, and the North wind blows; to-day our hearts are one,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though you are 'mid the English snows and I in Austral sun;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You, when you hear the Northern blast, pile high a mightier fire,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our ladies cower until it's past in lawn and lace attire.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I fancy I can picture you upon this Christmas night,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Just sitting as you used to do, the laughter at its height;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And then a sudden, silent pause intruding on your glee,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And kind eyes glistening because you chanced to think of me.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This morning when I woke and knew 'twas Christmas come again,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I almost fancied I could view white rime upon the pane,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And hear the ringing of the wheels upon the frosty ground,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And see the drip that downward steals in icy casket bound.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I daresay you'll be on the lake, or sliding on the snow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And breathing on your hands to make the circulation flow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nestling your nose among the furs of which your boa's made,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Fahrenheit here registers a hundred in the shade.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is not quite a Christmas here with this unclouded sky,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This pure transparent atmosphere, this sun mid-heaven-high;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To see the rose upon the bush, young leaves upon the trees,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And hear the forest's summer hush or the low hum of bees.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But cold winds bring not Christmastide, nor budding roses June,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when it's night upon your side we're basking in the noon.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Kind hearts make Christmas—June can bring blue sky or clouds above;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The only universal spring is that which comes of love.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And so it's Christmas in the South as on the North-sea coasts,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though we are staved with summer-drouth and you with winter frosts.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And we shall have our roast beef here, and think of you the while,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though all the watery hemisphere cuts off the mother isle.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Feel sure that we shall think of you, we who have wandered forth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And many a million thoughts will go to-day from south to north;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old heads will muse on churches old, where bells will ring to-day—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The very bells, perchance, which tolled their fathers to the clay.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And now, good-night! and I shall dream that I am with you all,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Watching the ruddy embers gleam athwart the panelled hall;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor care I if I dream or not, though severed by the foam,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My heart is always in the spot which was my childhood's home.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMASIII" id="CHRISTMASIII"></a>CHRISTMAS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ROSE TERRY COOKE</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here comes old Father Christmas,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With sound of fife and drums;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With mistletoe about his brows,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">So merrily he comes!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His arms are full of all good cheer,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">His face with laughter glows,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He shines like any household fire</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Amid the cruel snows.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is the old folks' Christmas;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He warms their hearts like wine;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He thaws their winter into spring,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And makes their faces shine.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hurrah for Father Christmas!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring all the merry bells!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And bring the grandsires all around</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To hear the tale he tells.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here comes the Christmas angel,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">So gentle and so calm;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As softly as the falling flakes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He comes with flute and psalm.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All in a cloud of glory,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">As once upon the plain</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To shepherd-boys in Jewry,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He brings good news again.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is the young folks' Christmas;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He makes their eyes grow bright</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With words of hope and tender thought,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And visions of delight.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hail to the Christmas angel!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All peace on earth he brings;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He gathers all the youths and maids</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Beneath his shining wings.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Here comes the little Christ-child,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All innocence and joy,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And bearing gifts in either hand</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For every girl and boy.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He tells the tender story</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">About the Holy Maid,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And Jesus in the manger</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Before the oxen laid.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Like any little winter bird</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He sings his sweetest song,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Till all the cherubs in the sky</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To hear his carol throng.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He is the children's Christmas;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">They come without a call,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To gather round the gracious Child,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who bringeth joy to all.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But who shall bring <i>their </i>Christmas</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who wrestle still with life?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not grandsires, youths, or little folks,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But they who wage the strife—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The fathers and the mothers</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who fight for homes and bread,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who watch and ward the living,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And bury all the dead?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ah! by their side at Christmas-tide</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Lord of Christmas stands:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He smooths the furrows from their brow</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With strong and tender hands.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I take my Christmas gift," He saith,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"From thee, tired soul, and he</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who giveth to My little ones</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Gives also unto Me."</span><br /> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2> + +<h2>STORIES</h2> +<br /> + + +<p><b><a name="THE_FIR_TREE" id="THE_FIR_TREE"></a>THE FIR TREE</b></p> + +<p>HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN</p> + +<p>Out in the forest stood a pretty little Fir Tree. It had a good place; +it could have sunlight, air there was in plenty, and all around grew +many larger comrades—pines as well as firs. But the little Fir Tree +wished ardently to become greater. It did not care for the warm sun and +the fresh air; it took no notice of the peasant children, who went about +talking together, when they had come out to look for strawberries and +raspberries. Often they came with a whole pot-full, or had strung +berries on a straw; then they would sit down by the little Fir Tree and +say, "How pretty and small that one is!" and the Tree did not like to +hear that at all.</p> + +<p>Next year he had grown a great joint, and the following year he was +longer still, for in fir trees one can always tell by the number of +rings they have how many years they have been growing.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if I were only as great a tree as the others!" sighed the little +Fir, "then I would spread my branches far around, and look out from my +crown into the wide world. The birds would then build nests in my +boughs, and when the wind blew I could nod just as grandly as the others +yonder."</p> + +<p>He took no pleasure in the sunshine, in the birds, and in the red clouds +that went sailing over him morning and evening.</p> + +<p>When it was winter, and the snow lay all around, white and sparkling, a +hare would often come jumping along, and spring right over the little +Fir Tree. Oh! this made him so angry. But two winters went by, and when +the third came the little Tree had grown so tall that the hare was +obliged to run around it.</p> + +<p>"Oh! to grow, to grow, and become old; that's the only fine thing in the +world," thought the Tree.</p> + +<p>In the autumn woodcutters always came and felled a few of the largest +trees; that was done this year too, and the little Fir Tree, that was +now quite well grown, shuddered with fear, for the great stately trees +fell to the ground with a crash, and their branches were cut off, so +that the trees looked quite naked, long, and slender—they could hardly +be recognized. But then they were laid upon waggons, and horses dragged +them away out of the wood. Where were they going? What destiny awaited +them?</p> + +<p>In the spring, when the swallows and the Stork came, the Tree asked +them, "Do you know where they were taken? Did you not meet them?"</p> + +<p>The swallows knew nothing about it, but the Stork looked thoughtful, +nodded his head, and said,</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so. I met many new ships when I flew out of Egypt; on the +ships were stately masts; I fancy that these were the trees. They smelt +like fir. I can assure you they're stately—very stately."</p> + +<p>"Oh that I were only big enough to go over the sea! What kind of thing +is this sea, and how does it look?"</p> + +<p>"It would take too long to explain all that," said the Stork, and he +went away.</p> + +<p>"Rejoice in thy youth," said the Sunbeams; "rejoice in thy fresh growth, +and in the young life that is within thee."</p> + +<p>And the wind kissed the Tree, and the dew wept tears upon it; but the +Fir Tree did not understand that.</p> + +<p>When Christmas-time approached, quite young trees were felled, sometimes +trees which were neither so old nor so large as this Fir Tree, that +never rested but always wanted to go away. These young trees, which were +almost the most beautiful, kept all their branches; they were put upon +wagons, and horses dragged them away out of the wood.</p> + +<p>"Where are they all going?" asked the Fir Tree. "They are not greater +than I—indeed, one of them was much smaller. Why do they keep all their +branches? Whither are they taken?"</p> + +<p>"We know that! We know that!" chirped the Sparrows. "Yonder in the town +we looked in at the windows. We know where they go. Oh! they are dressed +up in the greatest pomp and splendor that can be imagined. We have +looked in at the windows, and have perceived that they are planted in +the middle of the warm room, and adorned with the most beautiful +things—gilt apples, honey-cakes, playthings, and many hundreds of +candles."</p> + +<p>"And then?" asked the Fir Tree, and trembled through all its branches. +"And then? What happens then?"</p> + +<p>"Why, we have not seen anything more. But it was incomparable."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I may be destined to tread this glorious path one day!" cried +the Fir Tree rejoicingly. "That is even better than traveling across the +sea. How painfully I long for it! If it were only Christmas now! Now I +am great and grown up, like the rest who were led away last year. Oh, if +I were only on the carriage! If I were only in the warm room, among all +the pomp and splendor! And then? Yes, then something even better will +come, something far more charming, or else why should they adorn me so? +There must be something grander, something greater still to come; but +what? Oh, I'm suffering, I'm longing! I don't know myself what is the +matter with me!"</p> + +<p>"Rejoice in us," said Air and Sunshine, "Rejoice in thy fresh youth here +in the woodland."</p> + +<p>But the Fir Tree did not rejoice at all, but it grew and grew; winter +and summer it stood there, green, dark green. The people who saw it +said, "That's a handsome tree!" and at Christmas-time it was felled +before any one of the others. The axe cut deep into its marrow, and the +tree fell to the ground with a sigh: it felt a pain, a sensation of +faintness, and could not think at all of happiness, for it was sad at +parting from its home, from the place where it had grown up: it knew +that it should never again see the dear old companions, the little +bushes and flowers all around—perhaps not even the birds. The parting +was not at all agreeable.</p> + +<p>The Tree only came to itself when it was unloaded in a yard, with other +trees, and heard a man say,</p> + +<p>"This one is famous; we only want this one!"</p> + +<p>Now two servants came in gay liveries, and carried the Fir Tree into a +large beautiful saloon. All around the walls hung pictures, and by the +great stove stood large Chinese vases with lions on the covers; there +were rocking-chairs, silken sofas, great tables covered with +picture-books, and toys worth a hundred times a hundred dollars, at +least the children said so. And the Fir Tree was put into a great tub +filled with sand; but no one could see that it was a tub, for it was +hung round with green cloth, and stood on a large many-colored carpet. +Oh, how the Tree trembled! What was to happen now? The servants, and the +young ladies also, decked it out. On one branch they hung little nets, +cut out of colored paper; every net was filled with sweetmeats; golden +apples and walnuts hung down as if they grew there, and more than a +hundred little candles, red, white, and blue, were fastened to the +different boughs. Dolls that looked exactly like real people—the Tree +had never seen such before—swung among the foliage, and high on the +summit of the Tree was fixed a tinsel star. It was splendid, +particularly splendid.</p> + +<p>"This evening," said all, "this evening it will shine."</p> + +<p>"Oh," thought the Tree, "that it were evening already! Oh that the +lights may be soon lit up! When may that be done? I wonder if trees will +come out of the forest to look at me? Will the sparrows fly against the +panes? Shall I grow fast here, and stand adorned in summer and winter?"</p> + +<p>Yes, he did not guess badly. But he had a complete backache from mere +longing, and the backache is just as bad for a Tree as the headache for +a person.</p> + +<p>At last the candles were lighted. What a brilliance, what splendor! The +Tree trembled so in all its branches that one of the candles set fire to +a green twig, and it was scorched.</p> + +<p>"Heaven preserve us!" cried the young ladies; and they hastily put the +fire out.</p> + +<p>Now the Tree might not even tremble. Oh, that was terrible! It was so +afraid of setting fire to some of its ornaments, and it was quite +bewildered with all the brilliance. And now the folding doors were +thrown open, and a number of children rushed in as if they would have +overturned the whole Tree; the older people followed more deliberately. +The little ones stood quite silent, but only for a minute; then they +shouted till the room rang: they danced gleefully round the Tree, and +one present after another was plucked from it.</p> + +<p>"What are they about?" laughed the Tree. "What's going to be done?"</p> + +<p>And the candles burned down to the twigs, and as they burned down they +were extinguished, and then the children received permission to plunder +the Tree. Oh! they rushed in upon it, so that every branch cracked +again: if it had not been fastened by the top and by the golden star to +the ceiling, it would have fallen down.</p> + +<p>The children danced about with their pretty toys. No one looked at the +Tree except one old man, who came up and peeped among the branches, but +only to see if a fig or an apple had not been forgotten.</p> + +<p>"A story! a story!" shouted the children: and they drew a little fat man +towards the Tree; and he sat down just beneath it,—"for then we shall +be in the green wood," said he, "and the tree may have the advantage of +listening to my tale. But I can only tell one. Will you hear the story +of Ivede-Avede, or of Klumpey-Dumpey, who fell down stairs, and still +was raised up to honor and married the Princess?"</p> + +<p>"Ivede-Avede!" cried some, "Klumpey-Dumpey!" cried others, and there was +a great crying and shouting. Only the Fir Tree was quite silent, and +thought, "Shall I not be in it? shall I have nothing to do in it?" But +he had been in the evening's amusement, and had done what was required +of him.</p> + +<p>And the fat man told about Klumpey-Dumpey, who fell down stairs, and yet +was raised to honor and married the Princess. And the children clapped +their hands, and cried, "Tell another! tell another!" for they wanted to +hear about Ivede-Avede; but they only got the story of Klumpey-Dumpey. +The Fir Tree stood quite silent and thoughtful; never had the birds in +the wood told such a story as that. Klumpey-Dumpey fell down stairs, and +yet came to honor and married the Princess!</p> + +<p>"Yes, so it happens in the world!" thought the Fir Tree, and believed it +must be true, because that was such a nice man who told it. "Well, who +can know? Perhaps I shall fall down stairs too, and marry a Princess!" +And it looked forward with pleasure to being adorned again, the next +evening, with candles and toys, gold and fruit. "To-morrow I shall not +tremble," it thought. "I will rejoice in all my splendor. To-morrow I +shall hear the story of Klumpey-Dumpey again, and, perhaps, that of +Ivede-Avede too."</p> + +<p>And the Tree stood all night quiet and thoughtful.</p> + +<p>In the morning the servants and the chambermaid came in.</p> + +<p>"Now my splendor will begin afresh," thought the Tree. But they dragged +him out of the room, and up stairs to the garret, and here they put him +in a dark corner where no daylight shone.</p> + +<p>"What's the meaning of this?" thought the Tree. "What am I to do here? +What is to happen?"</p> + +<p>And he leaned against the wall, and thought, and thought. And he had +time enough, for days and nights went by, and nobody came up; and when +at length some one came, it was only to put some great boxes in a +corner. Now the Tree stood quite hidden away, and the supposition was +that it was quite forgotten.</p> + +<p>"Now it's winter outside," thought the Tree. "The earth is hard and +covered with snow, and people cannot plant me; therefore I suppose I'm +to be sheltered here until spring comes. How considerate that is! How +good people are! If it were only not so dark here, and so terribly +solitary!—not even a little hare! That was pretty out there in the +wood, when the snow lay thick and the hare sprang past; yes, even when +he jumped over me; but then I did not like it. It is terribly lonely up +here!"</p> + +<p>"Piep! piep!" said a little Mouse, and crept forward, and then came +another little one. They smelt at the Fir Tree, and then slipped among +the branches.</p> + +<p>"It's horribly cold," said the two little Mice, "or else it would be +comfortable here. Don't you think so, you old Fir Tree?"</p> + +<p>"I'm not old at all," said the Fir Tree. "There are many much older than +I."</p> + +<p>"Where do you come from?" asked the Mice. "And what do you know?" They +were dreadfully inquisitive. "Tell us about the most beautiful spot on +earth. Have you been there? Have you been in the store-room, where +cheeses lie on the shelves, and hams hang from the ceiling, where one +dances on tallow candles, and goes in thin and comes out fat?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know that!" replied the Tree; "but I know the wood, where the +sun shines, and where the birds sing."</p> + +<p>And then it told all about its youth.</p> + +<p>And the little Mice had never heard anything of the kind; and they +listened and said,</p> + +<p>"What a number of things you have seen! How happy you must have been!"</p> + +<p>"I?" said the Fir Tree; and it thought about what it had told. "Yes, +those were really quite happy times." But then he told of the +Christmas-eve, when he had been hung with sweetmeats and candles.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said the little Mice, "how happy you have been, you old Fir Tree!"</p> + +<p>"I'm not old at all," said the Tree. "I only came out of the wood this +winter. I'm only rather backward in my growth."</p> + +<p>"What splendid stories you can tell!" said the little Mice.</p> + +<p>And next night they came with four other little Mice, to hear what the +Tree had to relate; and the more it said, the more clearly did it +remember everything, and thought, "Those were quite merry days! But they +may come again. Klumpey-Dumpey fell down stairs, and yet he married the +Princess. Perhaps I may marry a Princess too!" And then the Fir Tree +thought of a pretty little birch tree that grew out in the forest: for +the Fir Tree, that birch was a real Princess.</p> + +<p>"Who's Klumpey-Dumpey?" asked the little Mice.</p> + +<p>And then the Fir Tree told the whole story. It could remember every +single word: and the little Mice were ready to leap to the very top of +the tree with pleasure. Next night a great many more Mice came, and on +Sunday two Rats even appeared; but these thought the story was not +pretty, and the little Mice were sorry for that, for now they also did +not like it so much as before.</p> + +<p>"Do you only know one story?" asked the Rats.</p> + +<p>"Only that one," replied the Tree. "I heard that on the happiest evening +of my life; I did not think then how happy I was."</p> + +<p>"That's a very miserable story. Don't you know any about bacon and +tallow candles—a store-room story?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the Tree.</p> + +<p>"Then we'd rather not hear you," said the Rats.</p> + +<p>And they went back to their own people. The little Mice at last stayed +away also; and then the Tree sighed and said,</p> + +<p>"It was very nice when they sat round me, the merry little Mice, and +listened when I spoke to them. Now that's past too. But I shall remember +to be pleased when they take me out."</p> + +<p>But when did that happen? Why, it was one morning that people came and +rummaged in the garret: the boxes were put away, and the Tree brought +out; they certainly threw him rather roughly on the floor, but a servant +dragged him away at once to the stairs, where the daylight shone.</p> + +<p>"Now life is beginning again," thought the Tree.</p> + +<p>It felt the fresh air and the first sunbeams, and now it was out in the +courtyard. Everything passed so quickly that the Tree quite forgot to +look at itself, there was so much to look at all round. The courtyard +was close to a garden, and here everything was blooming; the roses hung +fresh and fragrant over the little paling, the linden trees were in +blossom, and the swallows cried, "Quinze-wit! quinze-wit! my husband's +come!" But it was not the Fir Tree that they meant.</p> + +<p>"Now I shall live!" said the Tree, rejoicingly, and spread its branches +far out; but, alas! they were all withered and yellow; and it lay in the +corner among nettles and weeds. The tinsel star was still upon it, and +shone in the bright sunshine.</p> + +<p>In the courtyard a couple of the merry children were playing, who had +danced round the tree at Christmas-time, and had rejoiced over it. One +of the youngest ran up and tore off the golden star.</p> + +<p>"Look what is sticking to the ugly old fir tree," said the child, and he +trod upon the branches till they cracked again under his boots.</p> + +<p>And the Tree looked at all the blooming flowers and the splendor of the +garden, and then looked at itself, and wished it had remained in the +dark corner of the garret; it thought of its fresh youth in the wood, of +the merry Christmas-eve, and of the little Mice which had listened so +pleasantly to the story of Klumpey-Dumpey.</p> + +<p>"Past! past!" said the old Tree. "Had I but rejoiced when I could have +done so! Past! past!"</p> + +<p>And the servant came and chopped the Tree into little pieces; a whole +bundle lay there, it blazed brightly under the great brewing copper, and +it sighed deeply, and each sigh was like a little shot: and the children +who were at play there ran up and seated themselves at the fire, looked +into it, and cried, "Puff! puff!" But at each explosion, which was a +deep sigh, the Tree thought of a summer day in the woods, or of a winter +night there, when the stars beamed; he thought of Christmas-eve and of +Klumpey-Dumpey, the only story he had ever heard or knew how to tell; +and then the Tree was burned.</p> + +<p>The boys played in the garden, and the youngest had on his breast a +golden star, which the Tree had worn on its happiest evening. Now that +was past, and the Tree's life was past, and the story is past too: past! +past!—and that's the way with all stories.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="LITTLE_ROGERS_NIGHT_IN_THE_CHURCH" id="LITTLE_ROGERS_NIGHT_IN_THE_CHURCH"></a>LITTLE ROGER'S NIGHT IN THE CHURCH</b></p> + +<p>SUSAN COOLIDGE</p> + +<p>The boys and girls had fastened the last sprig of holly upon the walls, +and then gone to their homes, leaving the old church silent and +deserted. The sun had set in a sky clear and yellow as topaz. Christmas +eve had fairly come, and now the moon was rising, a full moon, and all +the world looked white in the silver light. Every bough of every tree +sparkled with a delicate coating of frost, the pines and cedars were +great shapes of dazzling snow, even the ivy on the gothic tower hung a +glittering arabesque on the gray wall. Never was there a lovelier night.</p> + +<p>That light that you see yonder comes from the window of old Andrew, the +sexton, and inside sits his grandson, little Roger, eating his supper of +porridge. The kitchen is in apple-pie order, chairs and tables have been +scrubbed as white as snow, the tins on the dresser shine like silver, +the hearth is swept clean, and Grandfather's chair is drawn into the +warmest corner. Grandfather is not sitting in it though; he has gone to +the church to put the fire in order for the night, lock up the doors, +and make all safe.</p> + +<p>Grandmother, in her clean stuff gown and apron, is mounted upon a chair +to stick a twig of holly on the tall clock in the corner. And now, as +she turns round, what a pleasant face she shows us, does she not? Old +and wrinkled, to be sure, but so good-natured and gentle that she is +prettier than many a young girl even now. Is it any wonder that little +Roger there is so fond of her?</p> + +<p>Now another bit of holly is wanted on the chimney-piece; and it is while +putting this up that the dear old dame gives sign that something has +gone wrong. "Ts, ts, ts,—deary me!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Granny?" said Roger.</p> + +<p>"Why, Roger," replied Granny, carefully dismounting from her chair, +"look here, Grandfather has gone off and forgot his keys. He took 'em +from the door this morning, because last year some of the young folks +let 'em drop in the snow, and had a sad time hunting for them. He knew +they would be in and out all day, so he just opened the door and brought +the keys home. Deary me! it's a cold night for old bones to be out of +doors. Would'st be afeard, little 'un, to run up with them?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit," said Roger, stoutly, as he crammed the last spoonful of +porridge in his mouth, and seized hat and mittens from the table. "I'll +take 'em down in a minute. Granny, and then run home. Mother'll want me +in the morning, likely."</p> + +<p>For Roger's parents lived in a cottage near the old people, and the boy +often said that he had two homes, and belonged half in one and half in +the other, and the small press-bed in Granny's loft seemed as much his +own as the cot in the corner of his mother's sleeping-room, and was +occupied almost as often. So, after a good-night hug from Granny, off he +ran. The church was near, and the moon light as day, so he never thought +of being afraid, not even when, as he brushed by the dark tower, +something stirred overhead, and a long, melancholy cry came shuddering +from the ivy. Roger knew the owls in the belfry well, and now he called +out to them cheerily: "To-whit-whit-whoo!"</p> + +<p>"Whoo-whoo-whit!" answered the owls, startled by the cry. Roger could +hear them fluttering in the nest.</p> + +<p>The church-door stood ajar, and he peeped in. The glow from the open +door of the stove showed Grandfather's figure, red and warm, stooping to +cover the fire with ashes for the night. He was so busy he never knew +the boy was there till he got close to him and jingled the keys in his +ear; but after one start he laughed, well pleased.</p> + +<p>"I but just missed them," he said. "Thou'rt a good boy to fetch them up. +Art going home with me to-night?"</p> + +<p>"No, I'm to sleep at my mother's," said Roger, "but I'll wait and walk +with you, Grandfather." So he slipped into a pew, and sat down till the +work should be finished, and they ready to go; and as he looked up he +saw all at once how beautiful the old church was looking.</p> + +<p>The moon outside was streaming in so brightly, that you hardly missed +the sun, Roger could see distinctly way up to the carved beams of the +roof, and trace the figures on the great arched windows over the altar, +whose colors had so often dazzled him on Sundays. The colors were soft +and dim now, but the figures were there. Roger could see them +plainly,—the sitting figure of the Lord Christ, with St. Matthew and +two other apostles, and the fisher-lad with his basket of fish. He had +often asked Granny to read him the story.</p> + +<p>That gleam at the further end of the nave came from the organ-loft, +where the moonbeams had found out the great brass pipes, and were +playing all manner of tricks with them. Almost the red of the +holly-berries could be seen, and every pointed ivy-leaf and spike of +evergreen in the wreathings of the windows stood out in bold relief +against the shining panes. With this beautiful whiteness the red glow of +the fire blended, and flooded the chancel with a lovely pink light, in +which shone the gilded letters on the commandment-tables, and the +brasses of the tablets on the walls. It was a wonderful thing to see.</p> + +<p>To study the roof better, Roger thought he would lie flat on the cushion +awhile, and look straight up. So he arranged himself comfortably, and +somehow—it <i>will </i>happen, even when we are full of enjoyment and +pleasure—his eyes shut, and the first thing he knew he was rubbing them +open again, only a minute afterward, as it seemed; but Grandfather was +gone. There was the stove closed for the night, and the great door at +the end of the aisle was shut. He jumped up in a fright, as you can +imagine, and ran to see, and shook it hard. No: it was locked, and poor +Roger was fastened in for the night.</p> + +<p>He understood it all in a moment. The tall pew had hidden him from +sight. Grandfather had thought him gone home; his mother would ever +doubt that he was safe at the other cottage; no one would miss him, and +there was no chance of being let out before morning.</p> + +<p>He was only six years old, so no wonder that at first he felt choked and +frightened, and inclined to cry. But he was a brave lad, and that idea +soon left him. He began to think that he was not badly off, after +all,—the church was warm, the pew-cushion as soft as his bed. No one +could get in to harm him. In fact, after the first moment, there was +something so exciting and adventurous in the idea of spending the night +in such a place, that he was almost glad the accident had happened. So +he went back to the pew, and tried to go to sleep again.</p> + +<p>That was not so easy. Did you ever get thoroughly waked up in the night +by a sudden fright? Do you remember how your eyes wouldn't stay shut +afterward, even when you closed them tight, but jerked open almost +against your will, as if a string was fastened to them and some one was +twitching it? Just so poor Roger felt. He lay still and kept himself +quiet for a moment, and then some little noise would come, and his heart +beat and his eyes be wide open in a minute. It was a coal dropping from +the fire, or a slight crack on the frosty panes: once a little mouse +crept out from the chancel, glaring shyly about with his bright eyes, +nibbled a moment at a leaf on the carpet and then crept back again. No +other living thing disturbed the quiet.</p> + +<p>He had heard the clock strike eleven a long time since, and was lying +with eyes half shut, gazing at the red fire-grate, and feeling at last a +little drowsy, when all at once a strange rush and thrill seemed to come +to him in the air, like a cool clear wind blowing through the church, +and in one minute he was wide awake and sitting upright, with ears +strained to catch some sound afar off. It was too distant and faint for +ordinary sense, but a new and sharper power of hearing seemed given him. +Little voices were speaking high in the air, outside the church,—very +odd ones, like birds' notes, and yet the words were plain. He listened +and listened, and made out at last that it was the owls in the tower +talking together.</p> + +<p>"Hoo, hoo, why don't you lie still there?" said one.</p> + +<p>"Whit-whoo-whit," said the other, "I can't. I know what is coming too +well for that."</p> + +<p>"What is coming,—what, what?" said two voices together.</p> + +<p>"Ah! you'll see soon," replied the first. "The elves are coming, the +hateful Christmas elves. You'll not get a wink of sleep to-night."</p> + +<p>"Why not? What will they do to us?" chirped the young ones.</p> + +<p>"You'll see," hooted the old owl. "You'll see! They'll pull your tails, +and tickle your feathers, and prick you with thorns. I know them, the +tricksy, troublesome things! I've been here many a long year. You were +only hatched last summer. To-whoo, to-whoo!"</p> + +<p>Just at this moment the church-clock began to strike twelve. At the +first clang the owls ceased to hoot, and Roger listened to the deep +notes, almost awe-struck, as they sounded one by one. He knew the voice +of the clock well, but it never before sounded so loud or so solemn: +five—six—seven—eight—nine—ten—eleven—twelve. It was Christmas +Day.</p> + +<p>As the last echo died away, a new sound took its place. From afar off +came the babble of tiny voices drawing nearer. Anything so gay and +charming was never dreamed of before,—half a laugh, half a song, the +tones blended into an enchanting peal, like bells on a frolic. Above the +old tower the sounds clustered and increased,—then a long, distressed +cry came from the owl, and a bubbling laugh floated in on the wind. +Roger could not stand it. Wild to see, he flew to the window, and tried +to stretch his neck in such a way as to catch what was going on above; +but it was a vain attempt, and just then the church-bells began to ring +all together, a chime, a Christmas chime, only the sounds were +infinitely small, as if baby hands had laid hold on the ropes. But his +sharpened senses brought every note and change to Roger's ears, and they +were so merry and so lovely that he felt he must get nearer or die; and +almost before he knew it he was climbing the dark belfry-stairs as fast +as his feet could carry him, never thinking of fear or darkness, only of +the elfin bells which were pealing overhead.</p> + +<p>Up, up, through the long slits in the tower the moon could be seen +sailing in the cold, clear blue. Higher, higher,—at last he gained the +belfry. There hung the four great bells, but nobody was pulling at their +heavy ropes. On each iron tongue was perched a fay; on the chains which +suspended them clustered others, all keeping time by the swaying of +their bodies as they swung to and fro, just grazing either side, and +bringing forth a clear, delicate stroke, sweet as laughter,—just loud +enough for fairy ears.</p> + +<p>Through the windows the crowd of floating fays could be seen whirling +about in the moonlight like glittering gossamer. They floated in and out +of the tower, they mounted the great bells and sat atop in swarms, they +chased and pushed each other, playing all sorts of pranks. Below, others +were attacking the owl's nest. Roger could hear their hoots and grunts +and the gleeful laughter of the elves. The moon made the tower light as +noon; all the time the elves sang or talked,—which, he could not tell; +there were words, but all so blent with laughs and mirthful trills that +it was nothing less than music.</p> + +<p>To and fro, to and fro, keeping time to a fairy rhythm, they swayed in +unison with the tiny peal they rang. Little quarrels arose. Once Roger +watched an elf trying to mount the clapper, and whenever he neared the +top a mischievous comrade pushed him off again. Then the elf pouted, +and, flying away, he returned with a holly-leaf. Small as it was, it +curled over his head like a huge umbrella. With the spiky point he slyly +pricked the elf above; and he, taken by surprise, lost his hold, and +came tumbling down, while the other danced for glee and clapped his +hands mockingly. Pretty soon, however, all was made up again,—they +kissed and were friends,—and Roger saw them perched opposite each +other, and moving to and fro like children in a swing.</p> + +<p>How long the pretty sight lasted he could not tell. So fearful was he of +marring the sport that he never stirred a finger; but all at once there +came a strain of music in the air, solemn, and sweeter than ever mortal +heard before. In a moment the elves left their sports; they clustered +like bees together in the window, and then flew from the tower in one +sparkling drift, and were gone, leaving Roger alone, and the owls +hooting below in the ivy.</p> + +<p>And then he felt afraid,—which he had not been as long as the fays were +there,—and down he ran in a fright over the stone steps of the stairs, +and entered the church again. The red glow of the fire was grateful to +him, for he was shivering with cold and excitement; but hardly had he +regained his old seat, when, lo! a great marvel came to pass. The wide +window over the altar swung open, and a train of angels slowly floated +through. How he knew them to be angels, Roger could not have told; but +that they were, he was sure,—Christmas angels, with faces of calm, +glorious beauty, and robes as white as snow. Over the altar they +hovered, and a wonderful song rose and filled the church—no bird's +strain was ever half so sweet. The words were few, but again and again +and again they came: "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, +good-will to men!"</p> + +<p>Roger knew the oft-repeated words,—they were those of the great +evergreen motto which overarched the chancel; but I think he never +forgot the beautiful meaning they seemed to bear as the angels sang them +over and over. It was so wondrous sweet that he could not feel +afraid,—he could only gaze and gaze, and hold his breath lest he should +lose a note.</p> + +<p>And the song rang on, clear and triumphant, even as the white-robed +choir parted and floated like soft summer clouds to and fro in the +church, pausing ever and anon as in blessing. They touched the leaves of +the Christmas green as they passed; they hung over the organ and brushed +the keys with their wings; a long time they clustered above the benches +of the poor, as if to leave a fragrance in the air; and then they rested +before a tablet which had been put up but a few months before, and which +bore the name of the rector's eldest son, and the dates of his birth and +death. Roger had been told of this brave lad, and how he had lost his +life in plunging from his ship to save the drowning child of an +emigrant; and now the angel-song seemed sweeter than ever, as over and +again they chanted, "Good-will to men,—good-will to men."</p> + +<p>At last one of the white-winged ones left the others, and hovered awhile +above the Squire's pew, near which our little boy was hidden. A +prayer-book lay open on the rail, and over this the fair angel bent as +in benediction. A girl had sat there once,—the Squire's only daughter. +Roger remembered her well, and the mourning of the whole parish when, +only a twelvemonth ago, the lovely child had been buried from their +sight; and now, as he timidly glanced into the glorious face above him, +it seemed to him to have the same look, only so ineffably beautiful that +he closed his dazzled eyes to shut out the vision and the light that +shone from the white wings,—only for a moment, then he opened them +again, as a gentle rustling filled the air, and he saw the bending +figure stoop, leave a kiss or a blessing on the pages of the open book, +and then glide away with the others. Again the group hovered above the +altar,—louder and clearer rose the triumphant strain, and, noiseless as +a cloud, the snowy train floated to the window. For one moment their +figures could be seen against the sky, then the song died away,—they +were gone, and Roger saw them no more.</p> + +<p>And now the light of dawn began to creep into the windows, twittering +sounds showed the birds awakening outside, and a pink streak appeared in +the sky. Too much rapt by his vision to feel impatience, the boy sat and +waited; and by and by a jingling in the lock showed Grandfather at +hand,—the door opened, and he came in.</p> + +<p>You can guess his surprise when his little grandson flew to meet him +with his wonderful story. As for the story, he pooh-poohed +<i>that</i>,—sleeping in such a strange place might well bring about a queer +dream, he said; but he took the boy home to the cottage, and Granny, +full of wonderment and sympathy, speedily prepared a breakfast for her +darling after his adventure. But, even with his mouth full of scalding +bread and milk, Roger would go on telling of angels and fairies, and the +owls' talk in their nest, till both grandparents began to think him +bewitched.</p> + +<p>Perhaps he was, for to this day he persists in the story. And though the +villagers that morning exclaimed that at no time had their old church, +in its Christmas dress, looked so beautiful before, and though the organ +sent forth a rarer, sweeter music than fingers had ever drawn from it, +still nobody believed a word of it. And though the poor mother, kneeling +in her lonely pew, and missing her darling from beside her, felt a +strange peace and patience enter her heart, and came away calmed and +blessed, still no one listened to the story. "Roger had dreamed it all," +they said; and perhaps he had,—only the owls knew.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /><br /> + +<p><b><a name="MR_BLUFFS_EXPERIENCES_OF_HOLIDAYS" id="MR_BLUFFS_EXPERIENCES_OF_HOLIDAYS"></a>MR. BLUFFS EXPERIENCES OF HOLIDAYS</b></p> + +<p>OLIVER BELL BUNCE</p> + +<p>"I hate holidays," said Bachelor Bluff to me, with some little +irritation, on a Christmas a few years ago. Then he paused an instant, +after which he resumed: "I don't mean to say that I hate to see people +enjoying themselves. But I hate holidays, nevertheless, because to me +they are always the dreariest and saddest days of the year. I shudder at +the name of holiday. I dread the approach of one, and thank Heaven when +it is over. I pass through, on a holiday, the most horrible sensations, +the bitterest feelings, the most oppressive melancholy; in fact, I am +not myself at holiday-times."</p> + +<p>"Very strange," I ventured to interpose.</p> + +<p>"A plague on it!" said he, almost with violence. "I'm not inhuman. I +don't wish anybody harm. I'm glad people can enjoy themselves. But I +hate holidays all the same. You see, this is the reason: I am a +bachelor; I am without kin; I am in a place that did not know me at +birth. And so, when holidays come around, there is no place anywhere for +me. I have friends, of course; I don't think I've been a very sulky, +shut-in, reticent fellow; and there is many a board that has a place for +me—but not at Christmas-time. At Christmas, the dinner is a family +gathering; and I've no family. There is such a gathering of kindred on +this occasion, such a reunion of family folk, that there is no place for +a friend, even if the friend be liked. Christmas, with all its +kindliness and charity and good-will, is, after all, deuced selfish. +Each little set gathers within its own circle; and people like me, with +no particular circle, are left in the lurch. So you see, on the day of +all the days in the year that my heart pines for good cheer, I'm without +an invitation.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's because I pine for good cheer," said the bachelor, sharply, +interrupting my attempt to speak, "that I hate holidays. If I were an +infernally selfish fellow, I wouldn't hate holidays. I'd go off and have +some fun all to myself, somewhere or somehow. But, you see, I hate to be +in the dark when all the rest of the world is in light. I hate holidays, +because I ought to be merry and happy on holidays, and can't.</p> + +<p>"Don't tell me," he cried, stopping the word that was on my lips; "I +tell you, I hate holidays. The shops look merry, do they, with their +bright toys and their green branches? The pantomime is crowded with +merry hearts, is it? The circus and the show are brimful of fun and +laughter, are they? Well, they all make me miserable. I haven't any +pretty-faced girls or bright-eyed boys to take to the circus or the +show, and all the nice girls and fine boys of my acquaintance have their +uncles or their grand-dads or their cousins to take them to those +places; so, if I go, I must go alone. But I don't go. I can't bear the +chill of seeing everybody happy, and knowing myself so lonely and +desolate. Confound it, sir, I've too much heart to be happy under such +circumstances! I'm too humane, sir! And the result is, I hate holidays. +It's miserable to be out, and yet I can't stay at home, for I get +thinking of Christmases past. I can't read—the shadow of my heart makes +it impossible. I can't walk—for I see nothing but pictures through the +bright windows, and happy groups of pleasure-seekers. The fact is, I've +nothing to do but to hate holidays.—But will you not dine with me?"</p> + +<p>Of course, I had to plead engagement with my own family circle, and I +couldn't quite invite Mr. Bluff home <i>that </i>day, when Cousin Charles and +his wife, and Sister Susan and her daughter and three of my wife's kin, +had come in from the country, all to make a merry Christmas with us. I +felt sorry, but it was quite impossible, so I wished Mr. Bluff a "merry +Christmas," and hurried homeward through the cold and nipping air.</p> + +<p>I did not meet Bachelor Bluff again until a week after Christmas of the +next year, when I learned some strange particulars of what occurred to +him after our parting on the occasion just described. I will let +Bachelor Bluff tell his adventure for himself:</p> + +<p>"I went to church," said he, "and was as sad there as everywhere else. +Of course, the evergreens were pretty, and the music fine; but all +around me were happy groups of people, who could scarcely keep down +<i>merry </i>Christmas long enough to do reverence to <i>sacred </i>Christmas. And +nobody was alone but me. Every happy paterfamilias in his pew tantalized +me, and the whole atmosphere of the place seemed so much better suited +to every one else than me that I came away hating holidays worse than +ever. Then I went to the play, and sat down in a box all alone by +myself. Everybody seemed on the best of terms with everybody else, and +jokes and banter passed from one to another with the most good-natured +freedom. Everybody but me was in a little group of friends. I was the +only person in the whole theater that was alone. And then there was such +clapping of hands, and roars of laughter, and shouts of delight at all +the fun going on upon the stage, all of which was rendered doubly +enjoyable by everybody having somebody with whom to share and +interchange the pleasure, that my loneliness got simply unbearable, and +I hated holidays infinitely worse than ever.</p> + +<p>"By five o'clock the holiday became so intolerable that I said I'd go +and get a dinner. The best dinner the town could provide. A sumptuous +dinner. A sumptuous dinner for one. A dinner with many courses, with +wines of the finest brands, with bright lights, with a cheerful fire, +with every condition of comfort—and I'd see if I couldn't for once +extract a little pleasure out of a holiday!</p> + +<p>"The handsome dining-room at the club looked bright, but it was empty. +Who dines at this club on Christmas but lonely bachelors? There was a +flutter of surprise when I ordered a dinner, and the few attendants +were, no doubt, glad of something to break the monotony of the hours.</p> + +<p>"My dinner was well served. The spacious room looked lonely; but the +white, snowy cloths, the rich window-hangings, the warm tints of the +walls, the sparkle of the fire in the steel grate, gave the room an air +of elegance and cheerfulness; and then the table at which I dined was +close to the window, and through the partly-drawn curtains were visible +centers of lonely, cold streets, with bright lights from many a window, +it is true, but there was a storm, and snow began whirling through the +street. I let my imagination paint the streets as cold and dreary as it +would, just to extract a little pleasure by way of contrast from the +brilliant room of which I was apparently sole master.</p> + +<p>"I dined well, and recalled in fancy old, youthful Christmases, and +pledged mentally many an old friend, and my melancholy was mellowing +into a low, sad undertone, when, just as I was raising a glass of wine +to my lips, I was startled by a picture at the window-pane. It was a +pale, wild, haggard face, in a great cloud of black hair, pressed +against the glass. As I looked, it vanished. With a strange thrill at my +heart, which my lips mocked with a derisive sneer, I finished the wine +and set down the glass. It was, of course, only a beggar-girl that had +crept up to the window and stole a glance at the bright scene within; +but still the pale face troubled me a little, and threw a fresh shadow +on my heart. I filled my glass once more with wine, and was again about +to drink, when the face reappeared at the window. It was so white, so +thin, with eyes so large, wild, and hungry-looking, and the black, +unkempt hair, into which the snow had drifted, formed so strange and +weird a frame to the picture, that I was fairly startled. Replacing, +untasted, the liquor on the table, I rose and went close to the pane. +The face had vanished, and I could see no object within many feet of the +window. The storm had increased, and the snow was driving in wild gusts +through the streets, which were empty, save here and there a hurrying +wayfarer. The whole scene was cold, wild, and desolate, and I could not +repress a keen thrill of sympathy for the child, whoever it was, whose +only Christmas was to watch, in cold and storm, the rich banquet +ungratefully enjoyed by the lonely bachelor. I resumed my place at the +table; but the dinner was finished, and the wine had no further relish. +I was haunted by the vision at the window, and began, with an +unreasonable irritation at the interruption, to repeat with fresh warmth +my detestation of holidays. One couldn't even dine alone on a holiday +with any sort of comfort, I declared. On holidays one was tormented by +too much pleasure on one side, and too much misery on the other. And +then, I said, hunting for justification of my dislike of the day, 'How +many other people are, like me, made miserable by seeing the fullness of +enjoyment others possessed!</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I know," sarcastically replied the bachelor to a comment of +mine; "of course, all magnanimous, generous, and noble-souled people +delight in seeing other people made happy, and are quite content to +accept this vicarious felicity. But I, you see, and this dear little +girl—"</p> + +<p>"Dear little girl!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I forgot," said Bachelor Bluff, blushing a little, in spite of a +desperate effort not to do so, "I didn't tell you. Well, it was so +absurd! I kept thinking, thinking of the pale, haggard, lonely little +girl on the cold and desolate side of the window-pane, and the over-fed, +discontented, lonely old bachelor on the splendid side of the +window-pane; and I didn't get much happier thinking about it, I can +assure you. I drank glass after glass of the wine—not that I enjoyed +its flavor any more, but mechanically, as it were, and with a sort of +hope thereby to drown unpleasant reminders. I tried to attribute my +annoyance in the matter to holidays, and so denounced them more +vehemently than ever. I rose once in a while and went to the window, but +could see no one to whom the pale face could have belonged.</p> + +<p>"At last, in no very amiable mood, I got up, put on my wrappers, and +went out; and the first thing I did was to run against a small figure +crouching in the doorway. A face looked up quickly at the rough +encounter, and I saw the pale features of the window-pane. I was very +irritated and angry, and spoke harshly; and then, all at once, I am sure +I don't know how it happened, but it flashed upon me that I, of all men, +had no right to utter a harsh word to one oppressed with so wretched a +Christmas as this poor creature was. I couldn't say another word, but +began feeling in my pocket for some money, and then I asked a question +or two, and then I don't quite know how it came about—isn't it very +warm here?" exclaimed Bachelor Bluff, rising and walking about, and +wiping the perspiration from his brow.</p> + +<p>"Well, you see," he resumed nervously, "it was very absurd, but I did +believe the girl's story—the old story, you know, of privation and +suffering, and all that—and just thought I'd go home with the brat and +see if what she said was all true. And then I remembered that all the +shops were closed, and not a purchase could be made. I went back and +persuaded the steward to put up for me a hamper of provisions, which the +half-wild little youngster helped me carry through the snow, dancing +with delight all the way.—And isn't this enough?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit, Mr. Bluff. I must have the whole story."</p> + +<p>"I declare," said Bachelor Bluff, "there's no whole story to tell. A +widow with children in great need, that was what I found; and they had a +feast that night, and a little money to buy them a load of wood and a +garment or two the next day; and they were all so bright, and so merry, +and so thankful, and so good, that, when I got home that night, I was +mightily amazed that, instead of going to bed sour at holidays, I was in +a state of great contentment in regard to holidays. In fact, I was +really merry. I whistled. I sang. I do believe I cut a caper. The poor +wretches I had left had been so merry over their unlooked-for Christmas +banquet that their spirits infected mine.</p> + +<p>"And then I got thinking again. Of course, holidays had been miserable +to me, I said. What right had a well-to-do, lonely old bachelor hovering +wistfully in the vicinity of happy circles, when all about there were so +many people as lonely as he, and yet oppressed with want? 'Good +gracious!' I exclaimed, 'to think of a man complaining of loneliness +with thousands of wretches yearning for his help and comfort, with +endless opportunities for work and company, with hundreds of pleasant +and delightful things to do! Just to think of it!' It put me in a great +fury at myself to think of it. I tried pretty hard to escape from myself +and began inventing excuses and all that sort of thing, but I rigidly +forced myself to look squarely at my own conduct. And then I reconciled +my conscience by declaring that, if ever after that day I hated a +holiday again, might my holidays end at once and forever!</p> + +<p>"Did I go and see my <i>protégés </i>again? What a question! Why—well, no +matter. If the widow is comfortable now, it is because she has found a +way to earn without difficulty enough for her few wants. That's no fault +of mine. I would have done more for her, but she wouldn't let me. But +just let me tell you about New Year's—the New-Year's-day that followed +the Christmas I've been describing. It was lucky for me there was +another holiday only a week off. Bless you! I had so much to do that day +that I was completely bewildered, and the hours weren't half long +enough. I did make a few social calls, but then I hurried them over; and +then hastened to my little girl, whose face had already caught a touch +of color; and she, looking quite handsome in her new frock and her +ribbons, took me to other poor folk, and—well, that's about the whole +story.</p> + +<p>"Oh, as to the next Christmas. Well, I didn't dine alone, as you may +guess. It was up three stairs, that's true, and there was none of that +elegance that marked the dinner of the year before; but it was merry, +and happy, and bright; it was a generous, honest, hearty, Christmas +dinner, that it was, although I do wish the widow hadn't talked so much +about the mysterious way a turkey had been left at her door the night +before. And Molly—that's the little girl—and I had a rousing appetite. +We went to church early; then we had been down to the Five Points to +carry the poor outcasts there something for their Christmas dinner; in +fact, we had done wonders of work, and Molly was in high spirits, and so +the Christmas dinner was a great success.</p> + +<p>"Dear me, sir, no! Just as you say. Holidays are not in the least +wearisome any more. Plague on it! When a man tells me now that he hates +holidays, I find myself getting very wroth. I pin him by the button-hole +at once, and tell him my experience. The fact is, if I were at dinner on +a holiday, and anybody should ask me for a sentiment, I should say, God +bless all holidays!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="SANTA_CLAUS_AT_SIMPSONS_BAR" id="SANTA_CLAUS_AT_SIMPSONS_BAR"></a>SANTA CLAUS AT SIMPSON'S BAR</b></p> + +<p>BRET HARTE</p> + +<p>It was nearly midnight when the festivities were interrupted. "Hush!" +said Dick Bullen, holding up his hand. It was the querulous voice of +Johnny from his adjacent closet: "Oh, dad!"</p> + +<p>The Old Man arose hurriedly and disappeared in the closet. Presently he +reappeared. "His rheumatiz is coming on agin bad," he explained, "and he +wants rubbin'." He lifted the demijohn of whiskey from the table and +shook it. It was empty. Dick Bullen put down his tin cup with an +embarrassed laugh. So did the others. The Old Man examined their +contents, and said hopefully, "I reckon that's enough; he don't need +much. You hold on, all o' you, for a spell, and I'll be back;" and +vanished in the closet with an old flannel shirt and the whiskey. The +door closed but imperfectly, and the following dialogue was distinctly +audible:—</p> + +<p>"Now, sonny, whar does she ache worst?"</p> + +<p>"Sometimes over yar and sometimes under yer; but it's most powerful from +yer to yer. Rub yer, dad."</p> + +<p>A silence seemed to indicate a brisk rubbing. Then Johnny:—</p> + +<p>"Hevin' a good time out yar, dad?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sonny."</p> + +<p>"Tomorrer's Chrismiss,—ain't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sonny. How does she feel now?"</p> + +<p>"Better. Rub a little furder down. Wot's Chrismiss, anyway? Wot's it all +about?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's a day."</p> + +<p>This exhaustive definition was apparently satisfactory, for there was a +silent interval of rubbing. Presently Johnny again:—</p> + +<p>"Mar sez that everywhere else but yer everybody gives things to +everybody Chrismiss, and then she jist waded inter you. She sez thar's a +man they call Sandy Claws, not a white man, you know, but a kind o' +Chinemin, comes down the chimbley night afore Chrismiss and gives things +to chillern,—boys like me. Puts 'em in their butes! Thet's what she +tried to play upon me. Easy, now, pop, whar are you rubbin' to,—thet's +a mile from the place. She jest made that up, didn't she, jest to +aggrewate me and you? Don't rub thar—Why, dad!"</p> + +<p>In the great quiet that seemed to have fallen upon the house the sigh of +the near pines and the drip of leaves without was very distinct. +Johnny's voice, too, was lowered as he went on: "Don't you take on now, +for I'm gettin' all right fast. Wot's the boys doin' out thar?"</p> + +<p>The Old Man partly opened the door and peered through. His guests were +sitting there sociably enough, and there were a few silver coins and a +lean buckskin purse on the table. "Bettin' on suthin',—some little game +or 'nother. They're all right," he replied to Johnny, and recommenced +his rubbing.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to take a hand and win some money," said Johnny reflectively, +after a pause.</p> + +<p>The Old Man glibly repeated what was evidently a familiar formula, that +if Johnny would wait until he struck it rich in the tunnel, he'd have +lots of money, etc., etc.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Johnny, "but you don't. And whether you strike it or I win +it, it's about the same. It's all luck. But it's mighty cur'o's about +Chrismiss,—ain't it? Why do they call it Chrismiss?"</p> + +<p>Perhaps from some instinctive deference to the overhearing of his +guests, or from some vague sense of incongruity, the Old Man's reply was +so low as to be inaudible beyond the room.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Johnny, with some slight abatement of interest, "I've heerd +o' him before. Thar, that'll do dad. I don't ache near so bad as I did. +Now wrap me tight in this yer blanket. So. Now," he added in a muffled +whisper, "sit down yer by me till I go asleep." To assure himself of +obedience he disengaged one hand from the blanket, and, grasping his +father's sleeve, again composed himself to rest.</p> + +<p>For some moments the Old Man waited patiently. Then the unwonted +stillness of the house excited his curiosity, and without moving from +the bed he cautiously opened the door with his disengaged hand, and +looked into the main room. To his infinite surprise it was dark and +deserted. But even then a smoldering log on the hearth broke, and by the +upspringing blaze he saw the figure of Dick Bullen sitting by the dying +embers.</p> + +<p>"Hello!"</p> + +<p>Dick started, rose, and came somewhat unsteadily toward him.</p> + +<p>"Whar's the boys?" said the Old Man.</p> + +<p>"Gone up the canon on a little pasear. They're coming back for me in a +minit. I'm waitin' round for 'em. What are you starin' at, Old Man?" he +added, with a forced laugh; "do you think I'm drunk?"</p> + +<p>The Old Man might have been pardoned the supposition, for Dick's eyes +were humid and his face flushed. He loitered and lounged back to the +chimney, yawned, shook himself, buttoned up his coat and laughed. +"Liquor ain't so plenty as that, Old Man. Now don't you git up," he +continued, as the Old Man made a movement to release his sleeve from +Johnny's hand. "Don't you mind manners. Sit jest whar you be; I'm goin' +in a jiffy. Thar, that's them now."</p> + +<p>There was a low tap at the door. Dick Bullen opened it quickly, nodded +"Good-night" to his host, and disappeared. The Old Man would have +followed him but for the hand that still unconsciously grasped his +sleeve. He could have easily disengaged it; it was small, weak and +emaciated. But perhaps because it was small, weak and emaciated he +changed his mind, and, drawing his chair closer to the bed, rested his +head upon it. In this defenceless attitude the potency of his earlier +potations surprised him. The room flickered and faded before his eyes, +reappeared, faded again, went out, and left him—asleep.</p> + +<p>Meantime Dick Bullen, closing the door, confronted his companions. "Are +you ready?" said Staples. "Ready," said Dick; "what's the time?" "Past +twelve," was the reply; "can you make it?—it's nigh on fifty miles, the +round trip hither and yon." "I reckon," returned Dick shortly. "Whar's +the mare?" "Bill and Jack's holdin' her at the crossin'." "Let 'em hold +on a minit longer," said Dick.</p> + +<p>He turned and reentered the house softly. By the light of the guttering +candle and dying fire he saw that the door of the little room was open. +He stepped toward it on tiptoe and looked in. The Old Man had fallen +back in his chair, snoring, his helpless feet thrust out in a line with +his collapsed shoulders, and his hat pulled over his eyes. Beside him, +on a narrow wooden bedstead, lay Johnny, muffled tightly in a blanket +that hid all save a strip of forehead and a few curls damp with +perspiration. Dick Bullen made a step forward, hesitated, and glanced +over his shoulder into the deserted room. Everything was quiet. With a +sudden resolution he parted his huge mustaches with both hands, and +stooped over the sleeping boy. But even as he did so a mischievous +blast, lying in wait, swooped down the chimney, rekindled the hearth, +and lit up the room with a shameless glow, from which Dick fled in +bashful terror.</p> + +<p>His companions were already waiting for him at the crossing. Two of them +were struggling in the darkness with some strange misshapen bulk, which +as Dick came nearer took the semblance of a great yellow horse.</p> + +<p>It was the mare. She was not a pretty picture. From her Roman nose to +her rising haunches, from her arched spine hidden by the stiff +<i>machillas </i>of a Mexican saddle, to her thick, straight, bony legs, +there was not a line of equine grace. In her half blind but wholly +vicious white eyes, in her protruding under-lip, in her monstrous color, +there was nothing but ugliness and vice.</p> + +<p>"Now, then," said Staples, "stand cl'ar of her heels, boy, and up with +you. Don't miss your first holt of her mane, and mind ye get your off +stirrup quick. Ready!"</p> + +<p>There was a leap, a scrambling, a bound, a wild retreat of the crowd, a +circle of flying hoofs, two springless leaps that jarred the earth, a +rapid play and jingle of spurs, a plunge, and then the voice of Dick +somewhere in the darkness. "All right!"</p> + +<p>"Don't take the lower road back onless you're pushed hard for time! +Don't hold her in down hill. We'll be at the ford at five. G'lang! +Hoopa! Mula! GO!"</p> + +<p>A splash, a spark struck from the ledge in the road, a clatter in the +rocky cut beyond, and Dick was gone.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">- - - - -</span><br /> + +<p>Sing, O Muse, the ride of Richard Bullen! Sing, O Muse, of chivalrous +men! the sacred quest, the doughty deeds, the battery of low churls, the +fearsome ride and gruesome perils of the Flower of Simpson's Bar! Alack! +she is dainty, this Muse! She will have none of this bucking brute and +swaggering, ragged rider, and I must fain follow him in prose, afoot!</p> + +<p>It was one o'clock, and yet he had only gained Rattlesnake Hill. For in +that time Jovita had rehearsed to him all her imperfections and +practised all her vices. Thrice had she stumbled. Twice had she thrown +up her Roman nose in a straight line with the reins, and, resisting bit +and spur, struck out madly across country. Twice had she reared, and, +rearing, fallen backward; and twice had the agile Dick, unharmed, +regained his seat before she found her vicious legs again. And a mile +beyond them, at the foot of a long hill, was Rattlesnake Creek. Dick +knew that here was the crucial test of his ability to perform his +enterprise, set his teeth grimly, put his knees well into her flanks, +and changed his defensive tactics to brisk aggression. Bullied and +maddened, Jovita began the descent of the hill. Here the artful Richard +pretended to hold her in with ostentatious objurgation and well-feigned +cries of alarm. It is unnecessary to add that Jovita instantly ran away. +Nor need I state the time made in the descent; it is written in the +chronicles of Simpson's Bar. Enough that in another moment, as it seemed +to Dick, she was splashing on the overflowed banks of Rattlesnake Creek. +As Dick expected, the momentum she had acquired carried her beyond the +point of balking, and, holding her well together for a mighty leap, they +dashed into the middle of the swiftly flowing current. A few moments of +kicking, wading, and swimming, and Dick drew a long breath on the +opposite bank.</p> + +<p>The road from Rattlesnake Creek to Red Mountain was tolerably level. +Either the plunge into Rattlesnake Creek had dampened her baleful fire, +or the art which led to it had shown her the superior wickedness of her +rider, for Jovita no longer wasted her surplus energy in wanton +conceits. Once she bucked, but it was from force of habit; once she +shied, but it was from a new, freshly-painted meeting-house at the +crossing of the country road. Hollows, ditches, gravelly deposits, +patches of freshly-springing grasses, flew from beneath her rattling +hoofs. She began to smell unpleasantly, once or twice she coughed +slightly, but there was no abatement of her strength or speed. By two +o'clock he had passed Red Mountain and begun the descent to the plain. +Ten minutes later the driver of the fast Pioneer coach was overtaken and +passed by a "man on a Pinto hoss,"—an event sufficiently notable for +remark. At half past two Dick rose in his stirrups with a great shout. +Stars were glittering through the rifted clouds, and beyond him, out of +the plain, rose two spires, a flagstaff, and a straggling line of black +objects. Dick jingled his spurs and swung his <i>riata</i>, Jovita bounded +forward, and in another moment they swept into Tuttleville, and drew up +before the wooden piazza of "The Hotel of All Nations."</p> + +<p>What transpired that night at Tuttleville is not strictly a part of this +record. Briefly I may state, however, that after Jovita had been handed +over to a sleepy ostler, whom she at once kicked into unpleasant +consciousness, Dick sallied out with the barkeeper for a tour of the +sleeping town. Lights still gleamed from a few saloons and gambling +houses; but, avoiding these, they stopped before several closed shops, +and by persistent tapping and judicious outcry roused the proprietors +from their beds, and made them unbar the doors of their magazines and +expose their wares. Sometimes they were met by curses, but oftener by +interest and some concern in their needs. It was three o'clock before +this pleasantry was given over, and with a small waterproof bag of India +rubber strapped on his shoulders Dick returned to the hotel. And then he +sprang to the saddle, and dashed down the lonely street and out into the +lonelier plain, where presently the lights, the black line of houses, +the spires, and the flagstaff sank into the earth behind him again and +were lost in the distance.</p> + +<p>The storm had cleared away, the air was brisk and cold, the outlines of +adjacent landmarks were distinct, but it was half-past four before Dick +reached the meeting-house and the crossing of the country road. To avoid +the rising grade he had taken a longer and more circuitous road, in +whose viscid mud Jovita sank fetlock deep at every bound. It was a poor +preparation for a steady ascent of five miles more; but Jovita, +gathering her legs under her, took it with her usual blind, unreasoning +fury, and a half hour later reached the long level that led to +Rattlesnake Creek. Another half hour would bring him to the Creek. He +threw the reins lightly upon the neck of the mare, chirruped to her, and +began to sing.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Jovita shied with a bound that would have unseated a less +practised rider. Hanging to her rein was a figure that had leaped from +the bank, and at the same time from the road before her arose a shadowy +horse and rider. "Throw up your hands," commanded the second apparition, +with an oath.</p> + +<p>Dick felt the mare tremble, quiver, and apparently sink under him. He +knew what it meant, and was prepared.</p> + +<p>"Stand aside, Jack Simpson. I know you, you d——d thief! Let me pass, +or—"</p> + +<p>He did not finish the sentence. Jovita rose straight in the air with a +terrific bound, throwing the figure from her bit with a single shake of +her vicious head, and charged with deadly malevolence down on the +impediment before her. An oath, a pistol-shot, horse and highwayman +rolled over in the road, and the next moment Jovita was a hundred yards +away. But the good right arm of her rider, shattered by a bullet, +dropped helplessly at his side.</p> + +<p>Without slacking his speed he lifted the reins to his left hand. But a +few moments later he was obliged to halt and tighten the saddle-girths +that had slipped in the onset. This in his crippled condition took some +time. He had no fear of pursuit, but, looking up, he saw that the +eastern stars were already paling, and that the distant peaks had lost +their ghostly whiteness, and now stood out blackly against a lighter +sky. Day was upon him. Then completely absorbed in a single idea, he +forgot the pain of his wound, and, mounting again, dashed on towards +Rattlesnake Creek. But now Jovita's breath came broken by gasps, Dick +reeled in his saddle, and brighter and brighter grew the sky.</p> + +<p>Ride, Richard; run, Jovita; linger, O day!</p> + +<p>For the last few rods there was a roaring in his ears. Was it exhaustion +from a loss of blood, or what? He was dazed and giddy as he swept down +the hill, and did not recognize his surroundings. Had he taken the wrong +road, or was this Rattlesnake Creek?</p> + +<p>It was. But the brawling creek he had swam a few hours before had risen, +more than doubled its volume, and now rolled a swift and resistless +river between him and Rattlesnake Hill. For the first time that night +Richard's heart sank within him. The river, the mountain, the quickening +east, swam before his eyes. He shut them to recover his self-control. In +that brief interval, by some fantastic mental process, the little room +at Simpson's Bar and the figures of the sleeping father and son rose +upon him. He opened his eyes wildly, cast off his coat, pistol, boots, +and saddle, bound his precious pack tightly to his shoulders, grasped +the bare flanks of Jovita with his bared knees, and with a shout dashed +into the yellow water. A cry arose from the opposite bank as the head of +a man and horse struggled for a few moments against the battling +current, and then were swept away amidst uprooted trees and whirling +driftwood.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">- - - - -</span><br /> + +<p>The Old man started and woke. The fire on the hearth was dead, the +candle in the outer room flickering in its socket, and somebody was +rapping at the door. He opened it, but fell back with a cry before the +dripping, half-naked figure that reeled against the doorpost.</p> + +<p>"Dick?"</p> + +<p>"Hush! Is he awake yet?"</p> + +<p>"No; but Dick—"</p> + +<p>"Dry up, you old fool! Get me some whiskey, quick!" The Old Man flew, +and returned with—an empty bottle! Dick would have sworn, but his +strength was not equal to the occasion. He staggered, caught at the +handle of the door, and motioned to the Old Man.</p> + +<p>"Thar's suthin' in my pack yer for Johnny. Take it off. I can't."</p> + +<p>The Old Man unstrapped the pack, and laid it before the exhausted man.</p> + +<p>"Open it, quick."</p> + +<p>He did so with trembling fingers. It contained only a few poor +toys,—cheap and barbaric enough, goodness knows, but bright with paint +and tinsel. One of them was broken; another, I fear, was irretrievably +ruined by water; and on the third—ah me! there was a cruel spot.</p> + +<p>"It don't look like much, that's a fact," said Dick ruefully ... "But +it's the best we could do.... Take 'em Old Man, and put 'em in his +stocking, and tell him—tell him, you know—hold me, Old Man—" The Old +Man caught at his sinking figure. "Tell him," said Dick, with a weak +little laugh,—"tell him Sandy Claus has come."</p> + +<p>And even so, bedraggled, ragged, unshaven and unshorn, with one arm +hanging helplessly at his side, Santa Claus came to Simpson's Bar, and +fell fainting on the first threshold. The Christmas dawn came slowly +after, touching the remoter peaks with the rosy warmth of ineffable +love. And it looked so tenderly on Simpson's Bar that the whole +mountain, as if caught in a generous action, blushed to the skies.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V</h2> + +<h2>OLD CAROLS AND EXERCISES</h2> + +<br /> + + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="GOD_REST_YOU_MERRY_GENTLEMEN" id="GOD_REST_YOU_MERRY_GENTLEMEN"></a>GOD REST YOU, MERRY GENTLEMEN</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">OLD CAROL</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God rest you, merry gentlemen,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Let nothing you dismay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For Jesus Christ, our Saviour,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Was born upon this day.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To save us all from Satan's pow'r</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When we were gone astray.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">O tidings of comfort and joy!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">For Jesus Christ, our Saviour,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Was born on Christmas Day.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In Bethlehem, in Jewry,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This blessed Babe was born.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And laid within a manger,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Upon this blessed morn;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The which His mother, Mary,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nothing did take in scorn.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From God our Heavenly Father,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A blessed angel came;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And unto certain shepherds</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Brought tidings of the same:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How that in Bethlehem was born</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The Son of God by name.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Fear not," then said the angel,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Let nothing you affright,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This day is born a Saviour</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of virtue, power, and might,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So frequently to vanquish all</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The friends of Satan quite."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The shepherds at those tidings</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Rejoicèd much in mind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And left their flocks a-feeding</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In tempest, storm, and wind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And went to Bethlehem straightway,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This blessed Babe to find.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But when to Bethlehem they came,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whereat this infant lay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They found Him in a manger,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where oxen feed on hay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His mother Mary kneeling,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Unto the Lord did pray.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now to the Lord sing praises,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All you within this place,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And with true love and brotherhood</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Each other now embrace;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This holy tide of Christmas</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">All others doth deface.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">O tidings of comfort and joy!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For Jesus Christ, our Saviour,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Was born on Christmas Day.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="OLD_CHRISTMAS_RETURNED" id="OLD_CHRISTMAS_RETURNED"></a>OLD CHRISTMAS RETURNED</b></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All you that to feasting and mirth are inclined,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come here is good news for to pleasure your mind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old Christmas is come for to keep open house,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He scorns to be guilty of starving a mouse:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then come, boys, and welcome for diet the chief,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast beef.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The holly and ivy about the walls wind</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And show that we ought to our neighbors be kind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Inviting each other for pastime and sport,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And where we best fare, there we most do resort;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We fail not of victuals, and that of the chief,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast beef.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All travellers, as they do pass on their way,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At gentlemen's halls are invited to stay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Themselves to refresh, and their horses to rest,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Since that he must be Old Christmas's guest;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nay, the poor shall not want, but have for relief,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast beef.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_CAROLV" id="CHRISTMAS_CAROLV"></a>CHRISTMAS CAROL</b></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As Joseph was a-waukin'</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He heard an angel sing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"This night shall be the birthnight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of Christ our heavenly King.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"His birth-bed shall be neither</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In housen nor in hall,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor in the place of paradise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But in the oxen stall.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"He neither shall be rockèd</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In silver nor in gold,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But in the wooden manger</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That lieth in the mould.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"He neither shall be washen</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With white wine nor with red,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But with the fair spring water</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That on you shall be shed.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"He neither shall be clothèd</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In purple nor in pall,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But in the fair, white linen</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That usen babies all."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As Joseph was a-waukin',</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Thus did the angel sing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And Mary's son at midnight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Was born to be our King.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then be you glad, good people,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">At this time of the year;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And light you up your candles,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">For His star it shineth clear.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"<b><a name="IN_EXCELSIS_GLORIA" id="IN_EXCELSIS_GLORIA"></a>IN EXCELSIS GLORIA</b>"</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When Christ was born of Mary free,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In Bethlehem, in that fair citie,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Angels sang there with mirth and glee,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>In Excelsis Gloria!</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Herdsmen beheld these angels bright,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To them appearing with great light,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who said, "God's Son is born this night,"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>In Excelsis Gloria!</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This King is come to save mankind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As in Scripture truths we find,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Therefore this song have we in mind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>In Excelsis Gloria!</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then, dear Lord, for Thy great grace,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Grant us the bliss to see Thy face,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That we may sing to Thy solace,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>In Excelsis Gloria!</i></span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_BOARS_HEAD_CAROL" id="THE_BOARS_HEAD_CAROL"></a>THE BOAR'S HEAD CAROL</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(Sung at Queen's College, Oxford.)</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The boar's head in hand bear I,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Bedecked with bays and rosemary;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I pray you, my masters, be merry,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Quot estis in convivio.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;"><i>Caput apri defero</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><i>Reddens laudes domino</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The boar's head, as I understand,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is the rarest dish in all this land,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which thus bedeck'd with a gay garland</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Let us servire cantico.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;"><i>Caput apri defero</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><i>Reddens laudes domino</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our steward hath provided this</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In honour of the King of bliss;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which on this day to be served is</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In Reginensi Atrio.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;"><i>Caput apri defero</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><i>Reddens laudes domino</i></span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CHRISTMAS_CAROLVI" id="CHRISTMAS_CAROLVI"></a>CHRISTMAS CAROL</b></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Listen, lordings, unto me, a tale I will you tell;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which, as on this night of glee, in David's town befell.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Joseph came from Nazareth with Mary, that sweet maid;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Weary were they nigh to death, and for a lodging prayed.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the inn they found no room; a scanty bed they made;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Soon a babe, an angel pure, was in the manger laid.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Forth He came, as light through glass, He came to save us all.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the stable, ox and ass before their Maker fall.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shepherds lay afield that night to keep the silly sheep,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hosts of angels in their sight came down from Heaven's high steep:—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tidings! tidings unto you! to you a child is born,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Purer than the drops of dew, and brighter than the morn!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Onward then the angels sped, the shepherds onward went,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God was in His manger bed; in worship low they bent.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the morning see ye mind, my masters one and all,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At the altar Him to find, who lay within the stall.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Chorus</i>.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Sing high, sing low,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Sing to and fro,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Go tell it out with speed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Cry out and shout,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">All round about,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">That Christ is born indeed!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Pray whither sailed those ships all three</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On Christmas day in the morning?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, they sailed into Bethlehem</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On Christmas day, on Christmas day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, they sailed into Bethlehem</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On Christmas day in the morning.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all the bells on earth shall ring</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On Christmas day, on Christmas day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all the bells on earth shall ring</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On Christmas day in the morning.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all the angels in heaven shall sing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On Christmas day, on Christmas day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all the angels in heaven shall sing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On Christmas day in the morning.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all the souls on earth shall sing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On Christmas day, on Christmas day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all the souls on earth shall sing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On Christmas day in the morning.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then let us all rejoice amain</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On Christmas day, on Christmas day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then let us all rejoice amain</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">On Christmas day in the morning.</span><br /> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="ADDITIONAL_PIECES" id="ADDITIONAL_PIECES"></a>ADDITIONAL PIECES</h2> +<br /> + + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_CHRISTMAS_INSURRECTION" id="A_CHRISTMAS_INSURRECTION"></a>A CHRISTMAS INSURRECTION</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANNE P.L. FIELD</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the hush of a shivery Christmas-tide dawn</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Three small frozen figures hung stiff and forlorn</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Three dim ghostly forms in the glimmering gray</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Locked up in dark cold storage quarters were they</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Awaiting the coming of glad Christmas day</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Suspended each one from a hickory twig</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A turkey, a goose, and a little fat pig</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With chestnuts the turkey was garnished and stuffed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With onions and sage was the goose-carcass puffed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While piggy was spiced, and his neck was beruffed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Three spirits regretful were hovering near</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Look!" gobbled the turkey's, "what tragedy's here!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"For this did they tempt me with fattening food,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For this did I bring up my beautiful brood,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I always thought farmers uncommonly rude!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The goose spirit trembled, then hissingly said</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Most men care for nothing except to be fed!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"What horror is this, filled with onions and sage</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To be served on a platter at my tender age!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis enough any well-disposed fowl to enrage!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The phantom pig grunted, "Do please look at that!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Oh! why did I grow up so rosy and fat!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"They put in my mouth a sweet, juicy corncob</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Just when of sensations my palate they rob,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do you wonder such sights make a spirit-pig sob!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Conferring, the spirits resolved on a plan</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By which to wreak vengeance on merciless man</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"We'll each disagree with the human inside,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We'll cause indigestion and damage his pride,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the pains of this Christmas we'll spread far and wide!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Sing hey! sing ho! heigho!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_NIGHT_AFTER_CHRISTMAS" id="THE_NIGHT_AFTER_CHRISTMAS"></a>THE NIGHT AFTER CHRISTMAS</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANNE P.L. FIELD</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Twas the night after Christmas in Santa-Claus land</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And to rest from his labors St. Nicholas planned.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The reindeer were turned out to pasture and all</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The ten thousand assistants discharged till the fall.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The furry great-coat was laid safely away</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With the boots and the cap with its tassel so gay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And toasting his toes by a merry wood fire,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What more could a weary old Santa desire?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So he puffed at his pipe and remarked to his wife,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"This amply makes up for my strenuous life!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From climbing down chimneys my legs fairly ache,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But it's well worth the while for the dear children's sake.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'd bruise every bone in my body to see</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The darlings' delight in a gift-laden tree!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Just then came a sound like a telephone bell—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though why they should have such a thing I can't tell—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">St. Nick gave a snort and exclaimed in a rage,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Bad luck to inventions of this modern age!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He grabbed the receiver—his face wore a frown</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As he roared in the mouth-piece, "I will not come down</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To exchange any toys like an up-to-date store,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ring off, I'll not listen to anything more!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then he settled himself by the comforting blaze</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And waxed reminiscent of halcyon days</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When children were happy with simplest of toys:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A doll for the girls and a drum for the boys—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But again came that noisy disturber of peace</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The telephone bell—would the sound never cease?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Run and answer it, wife, all my patience has fled,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If they keep this thing up I shall wish I were dead!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have worked night and day the best part of a year</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To supply all the children, and what do I hear—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A boy who declares he received roller-skates</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When he wanted a gun—and a cross girl who states</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That she asked for a new Victor talking machine</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I brought her a sled, so she thinks I am 'mean!'"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Poor St. Nicholas looked just the picture of woe,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He needed some auto-suggestion, you know,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To make him think things were all coming out right,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For he didn't get one wink of slumber that night!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The telephone wire was kept sizzling hot</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By children disgusted with presents they'd got,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And when the bright sun showed its face in the sky</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Santa-Claus family were ready to cry!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Just then something happened—a way of escape,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though it came in the funniest possible shape—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">An aeronaut, sorely in need of a meal,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Descended for breakfast—it seemed quite ideal!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For the end of it was, he invited his host</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Out to try the balloon, of whose speed he could boast.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">St. Nick, who was nothing if not a good sport,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Was delighted to go, and as quick as a thought</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Climbed into the car for a flight in the air—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"No telephone bells can disturb me up there!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And, wife, if it suits me I'll count it no crime</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To stay up till ready for next Christmas time!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thus saying—he sailed in the giant balloon,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I fear that he will not return very soon.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Now, when you ask "Central" for Santa-Claus land</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She'll say, "discontinued"—and you'll understand.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="WHEN_THE_STARS_OF_MORNING_SANG" id="WHEN_THE_STARS_OF_MORNING_SANG"></a>WHEN THE STARS OF MORNING SANG</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANNE P.L. FIELD</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When the stars of morning sang</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Long ago,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sweet the air with music rang</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Through the snow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There beside the mother mild</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Slept the blessed Christmas child,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Slumber holy, undefiled—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Here below.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When the wise men traveled far</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Through the night,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Following the guiding star</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Pure and bright,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lo! it stood above the place</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sanctified by Heaven's grace,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And upon the Christ-Child's face</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Shed its light.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When the world lay hushed and still</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Christmas morn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Suddenly were skies athrill—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">"Christ is born!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Angel voices, high and clear,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Chanted tidings of good cheer,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"See, the Infant King is here,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Christ is born!"</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="A_PRAYER_AT_BETHLEHEM" id="A_PRAYER_AT_BETHLEHEM"></a>A PRAYER AT BETHLEHEM</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANNE P.L. FIELD</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O pulsing earth with heart athrill</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With infinite creative will!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O watchful shepherds in whose eyes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sweet hopes and promises arise!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O angel-host whose chanting choir</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Proclaims fulfillment of desire!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O flaming star so purely white</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Against the black Judean night!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O blessed Mary bending low</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With sense of motherhood aglow!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O holy Babe with haloed head</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Soft pillowed in a manger bed!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O Mystery divine and deep</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Help us Thy prophecies to keep!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="THE_CHRISTMAS_FIRES" id="THE_CHRISTMAS_FIRES"></a>THE CHRISTMAS FIRES</b></span><br /> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">ANNE P.L. FIELD</span><br /></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Christmas fires brightly gleam</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And dance among the holly boughs,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Christmas pudding's spicy steam</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With fragrance fills the house,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While merry grows each friendly soul</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Over the foaming wassail bowl.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Resplendent stands the glitt'ring tree,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Weighted with gifts for old and young,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The children's faces shine with glee,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And joyous is each tongue,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">While lads and lassies come and go</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Under the festive mistletoe.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When suddenly the frosty air</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Is filled with music, voices sweet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lo! see the Christmas waits are there</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Snow-crowned and bare of feet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet high and clear their voices ring,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And glad their Christmas carolling.</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b><a name="CAROL" id="CAROL"></a>CAROL</b></span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O Child of Mary's tender care!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O little Child so pure and fair!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Cradled within the manger hay</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On that divine first Christmas day!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The hopes of every age and race</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are centered in Thy radiant face!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O Child whose glory fills the earth!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O little Child of lowly birth!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The shepherds, guided from afar,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Stood worshiping beneath the star,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And wise-men fell on bended knee</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And homage offered unto Thee!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O Child of whom the angels sing!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O little Child, our Infant King!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What balm for every sorrow lies</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Within those clear, illumined eyes!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O precious gift to mortals given</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To win us heritage in Heaven!</span><br /> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b><a name="THE_MOTHER" id="THE_MOTHER"></a>THE MOTHER</b></p> + +<p>ROBERT HAVEN SCHAUFFLER</p> + +<p>All day her watch had lasted on the plateau above the town. And now the +sun slanted low over the dull, blue sheen of the western sea, playing +changingly with the angular mountain which rose abruptly from its surge.</p> + +<p>The young matron did not heed the magic which was transforming the +theater of hills to the north and lingering lovingly at last on the +eastern summit. Nor had she any eyes for the changing hue of the +ivy-clad cubes of stone that formed the village over which her hungry +gaze passed, sweeping the length and breadth of the plain below.</p> + +<p>She seemed not much above thirty: tall, erect and lithe. Her throat, +bared to the breeze, was of the purest modeling; her skin of a whiteness +unusual in that warm climate. Her head, a little small for her rounded +figure, was crowned with a coil of chestnut hair, and her eyes glowed +with a look strange to the common light of every day. It was her soul +that was scanning that southward country.</p> + +<p>From time to time she would fondle a small object hidden beneath the +white folds of her robe. Once she threw her arms out in a passionate +gesture toward the plain, and tears overflowed the beautiful eyes. Again +she fell on her knees, and the throes of inner prayer found relief at +her lips:</p> + +<p>"Father, my Father, grant me to see him ere the dusk!"</p> + +<p>Once again she sank down, moaning:</p> + +<p>"He is in Thine everlasting arms. But Thou, who knowest times and +seasons, give him to me on this day of days!"</p> + +<p>Under the curve of a shielding hand her vision strained through the +clear, pure air,—strained and found at last two specks far out in the +plain, and followed them breathlessly as they crept nearer. One traveler +was clad in a dark garment, and stopped presently, leaving his +light-robed companion to hasten on alone toward the hungry-eyed woman on +the plateau.</p> + +<p>All at once she gathered her skirt with a joyous cry and ran with lithe, +elastic steps down through the village.</p> + +<p>They met on a low, rounded hill near the plain.</p> + +<p>"My son, my darling!" she cried, catching him passionately to her bosom. +"We have searched, and waited, and agonized," she continued after a +pause, smiling at him through her happy tears. "But it matters nothing +now. I have thee again."</p> + +<p>"My mother," said the boy as he caressed her cheek, looking at her +dreamily, "I have been with my cousin. Even now he waits below for me. I +must bid thee farewell. I must pass from thy face forever."</p> + +<p>His lip trembled a little, but he smiled bravely. "For it is the will of +God, the Father."</p> + +<p>The mother's face went ashen. She tottered and would have fallen but for +his slender arm about her.</p> + +<p>Her thoughts were whirling in wild confusion, yet she knew that she must +decide calmly, wisely, quickly.</p> + +<p>Her lips moved, but made no sound.</p> + +<p>"Oh, lay Thy wise and gracious hand upon me!" was what she breathed in +silence.</p> + +<p>Then her voice sounded rich and happy and fresh, as it had always +sounded for him.</p> + +<p>"His will be done. Thou comest to bid farewell to thy brothers and +father?"</p> + +<p>"It may not be," he answered. "My lot henceforth is to flee the touch of +the world, the unsympathetic eye, the ribald tongue of those like my +brothers—the defilement of common life."</p> + +<p>The mother pressed him closer.</p> + +<p>"Say all that is in thine heart," she murmured. "We will bide here."</p> + +<p>They sank down together on the soft, bright turf, facing the brilliance +of the west, she holding her child as of old in the hollow of her arm.</p> + +<p>He began to speak.</p> + +<p>"For long and long a voice within me said, 'Go and seek thy cousin.' So +I sought and found, and we abode together in the woods and fields, and +were friends with our dear brothers the beasts, and the fishes, and the +birds. There, day by day, my cousin would tell me of the dream that +filled his soul and of the holy men who had put the dream there."</p> + +<p>The mother's eyes grew larger with a swift terror, but she held her +peace.</p> + +<p>"And at the last, when the beauty, the wind, the sun, the rain, and the +voice of God, had purified me in some measure, my cousin brought me to +visit these holy men."</p> + +<p>The clear, boyish voice rose and began to vibrate with enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>"Ah, mother, <i>they </i>are the chosen ones of God! Sweet and grave and +gentle they are, and theirs is the perfect life. They dwell spotless and +apart from the world. They own one common purse, and spend their lives +working with their hands and pondering and dreaming on purity, goodness, +and the commands of the great law."</p> + +<p>He sprang up in his excitement from her encircling arm and stood erect +and wide-eyed before her.</p> + +<p>"Ah, mother, they are so good that they would do nothing on the Sabbath, +even to saving their own lives or the lives of their animals, or their +brothers. They bathe very often in sacred water. They have no wives, and +mortify the flesh, and—"</p> + +<p>"What is their aim in this?" the mother interrupted gently.</p> + +<p>The boy was aflame with his subject.</p> + +<p>"Ah, that is it—the great goal toward which they all run," he cried. +"They are doing my Father's work, and I must help! Hear, hear what is +before me: When a young novice comes to them they give him the symbols +of purity: a spade, an apron, and a white robe to wear at the holy +meals. In a year he receives a closer fellowship and the baths of +purification. After that he enters the state of bodily purity. Then +little by little he enters into purity of the spirit, meekness, +holiness. He becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit, and prophesies. Ah, +think, mother, how sweet it would be to lie entranced there for days and +weeks in an earthly paradise, with no rough world to break the spell, +while the angels sing softly in one's ears! I, even I, have already +tasted of that bliss."</p> + +<p>"Say on," she breathed. "What does the holy man do then?"</p> + +<p>"Then," the inspired, boyish tones continued—"then he performs +miracles, and finally—" he clasped her hand convulsively—"he becomes +Elias, the forerunner of the Messiah!"</p> + +<p>From far out in the wilderness came a melancholy cry.</p> + +<p>"It is John, my cousin," said the boy, radiant, half turning himself at +the sound. "I must go to him."</p> + +<p>She drew in her breath sharply, and rose to her feet.</p> + +<p>"Bear a message to John," she said. "Not pourings of water, nor white +robes; not times and seasons, nor feasts in darkness and silence, shall +hasten the kingdom of heaven; neither formulas, nor phylacteries, nor +madness on the Sabbath. Above all, no selfish, proud isolation shall +usher in the glorious reign of the Messiah. These holy men,—these +Essenes,—are but stricter, sterner, nobler Pharisees. Tell thy cousin +to take all the noble and fine, to reject all the selfish and unmeaning, +in their lives. Doctrine is not in heaven. Not by fasts and scourgings, +not by vigils and scruples about the law; not by selfishly shutting out +the world, but by taking all poor, suffering, erring, striving humanity +into his heart will he become the true Elias."</p> + +<p>There was a breathless, thrilling moment of perfect silence as the +glowing eyes of the mother looked deep into the astonished, questioning +eyes of the son.</p> + +<p>Then she rested both hands on his shoulders and spoke almost in a +whisper.</p> + +<p>"As for thee, the time is now come. Does my son know what this day +means?"</p> + +<p>He looked at her wonderingly and was silent.</p> + +<p>The mother spoke:</p> + +<p>"For many years I have kept these things and pondered them in my heart. +Now, <i>now </i>the hour is here when thou must know them."</p> + +<p>She bent so close that a strand of loosened hair swept his forehead.</p> + +<p>"In the time before thou wert born came as in a dream a wondrous visitor +to me straight from the Father. And that pure, ecstatic messenger +announced that the power of the Highest would overshadow me, and that my +child was to be the son of the Highest, who should save His people from +their sins—the Prince of Peace—the Messiah!"</p> + +<p>From the wilderness came a long, melancholy cry, but the rapt boy heard +not.</p> + +<p>The mother continued in the soft, tender voice that began to tremble +with her in her ecstasy.</p> + +<p>"This day is thy birthday. Twelve years ago this eventide, when thou +camest into the world of men, men came to worship and praise God for +thee,—the lowliest and the highest,—as a token that thou wert to be +not only Son of God but Son of Man as well. Poor, ignorant shepherds +crowded about us in that little stable where we lay, and left the sweet +savor of their prayers, and tears, and rejoicings. And great, wise kings +from another part of the earth came also."</p> + +<p>From beneath the folds of her robe she drew forth by a fine-spun chain +an intricately chased casket of soft, yellow gold.</p> + +<p>The boy took it dreamily into his hands, and as his fingers opened it, +there floated forth upon the air of the hills of Nazareth the sacred +odor of incense mingled with a perfume indescribably delicate and +precious.</p> + +<p>"Read!" whispered the mother.</p> + +<p>The boy held his breath suddenly.</p> + +<p>There, on the lower surface of the lid, graven in rude characters, as if +on the inspiration of the moment, stood the single word</p> + +<p>LOVE</p> + +<p>She flung wide her arms as if to embrace the universe.</p> + +<p>"Love! Love! Love!" she cried in her rich mother's voice. "It is the +greatest thing in the world! It is the message of the Messiah!"</p> + +<p>The heavens over the sea were of molten gold, and a golden glow seemed +to radiate from the boyish face that confronted them. In their +trance-like ecstasy the wonderful eyes gazed full into the blinding +west—gazed on and on until day had passed into night.</p> + +<p>One iterant sound alone, as it drew closer, stirred the silence of that +evening: it was the voice of one crying in the wilderness.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_END" id="THE_END"></a>THE END</h2> + + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<p><b>Transcriber's Note</b></p> + +<p>1. There is an editorial error in the original edition +of this book: "The Star Song" by Robert Herrick is listed in the Table +of Contents but not included in the text. For this edition "The Star +Song" was removed from the Table of Contents.</p> + +<p>2. In the "Inexhaustibility of the Subject of Christmas" by Leigh Hunt the +following sentence:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"There are two p's, observe, in plenipotential; and so there are in</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">plum-pudding. We love an exquisite fitness,—a might and wealth of</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">adaptation).</span><br /> + +<p>is transcribed:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(There are two p's, observe, in plenipotential; and so there are in</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">plum-pudding. We love an exquisite fitness,—a might and wealth of</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">adaptation).</span><br /> + +<p>3. In "Christmas Holly:"</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I sing the holly, and who can breathe</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Aught of that that is not good?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then sing to the holly, the Christmas holly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That hangs over peasant and king;</span><br /> + +<p>was changed as follows to correct an error and to preserve the symmetrical +verse structure [4,8,8,8,4]:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I sing the holly, and who can breathe</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Aught of that that is not good?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then sing to the holly, the Christmas holly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">That hangs over peasant and king;</span><br /> + +<p>4. In "Sery" by Richard Watson Gilder:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At a very queer sight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the dim starlight.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As plain as can be</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A fairy tree</span><br /> + +<p>was changed to:</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At a very queer sight</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the dim starlight.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As plain as can be</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A fairy tree</span><br /> + +<p>5. In Christmas Dreams, the word "stravaigging" was corrected to +"stravaiging."</p> + +<p>6. "Hang up the Baby's Stocking" was not attributed in the Table of +Contents or in the text in the original edition. For clarity this edition +attributed both as follows: [Emily Huntington Miller]. Attribution makes +the text more readable. Without it one could believe the poem to have +been written by Andrew Lang; especially after Haven inserts an extra +poem by Southwell, "A Carol" following "The Wassailer's Song," which +is unlisted in the contents.</p> + +<p>7. Finally, the 1907 edition includes a story called "Golden Cobwebs" at +the close of section IV that was not included in the 1968 edition used +for this transcription.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTMAS***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 18908-h.txt or 18908-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/9/0/18908">http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/9/0/18908</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution.</p> + + + +<pre> +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license)</a>. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org">http://www.gutenberg.org</a> + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/</a> + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/18908-h/images/002.png b/18908-h/images/002.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..094edb2 --- /dev/null +++ b/18908-h/images/002.png |
