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diff --git a/old/66957-0.txt b/old/66957-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ad5947c..0000000 --- a/old/66957-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11666 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Book of Christmas, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Book of Christmas - -Author: Various - -Illustrator: George Wharton Edwards - -Contributor: Hamilton W. Mabie - -Release Date: December 16, 2021 [eBook #66957] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Charlene Taylor, Alan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF CHRISTMAS *** - - - - - -[Illustration: THE HOLY NIGHT. _Correggio._] - - - - - _The - BOOK of - Christmas_ - - _With an - Introduction - by_ - - Hamilton W - Mabie - - _and an - Accompaniment of - Drawings by_ - - George Wharton - EDWARDS - - _New York - The Macmillan - Company - 1909_ - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1909, - BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. - - Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1909 - - - Norwood Press - J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co. - Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -Carols are still sung in almost numberless churches, lights glow on -altars bound and wreathed with spruce and holly, trees are set up in -innumerable homes, and mobs of merry children sing and dance around -them, stockings take on grotesque shapes and hang gaping with treasures -for early marauders on Christmas morning, and hosts of men and women -keep the day in their hearts in all peace and piety. - -The festival, dear to the heart of sixty generations, has survived the -commercial uses which it has been compelled to serve; the weariness -of buying and selling in the vast bazaar of nations, stocked with all -manner of things which stimulate the offerings of friendship; the -wide-spread sense of irony which success without happiness breeds; -the indifference of feeling and satiety of emotion fostered by great -prosperity without that grace of culture which subdues wealth to the -finer uses of life. It has survived the cynical spirit that distrusts -sentiment and sneers at emotion as weaknesses which have no place in a -scientific age and among men and women who know life. It has survived -that preoccupation with affairs which leaves little time for feelings, -and that resolute determination to make men good which leaves scant -room for efforts to make them happy. - -But even in this age of hard-headed practical sagacity and hard-minded -goodness ruthlessly bent on doing the Lord's work by the methods -of a police magistrate, Christmas carols are still sung; and the -organization of virtue in numberless societies with presidents and -secretaries, and, above all, with treasurers, has not dimmed the glow -of the love which bears fruit in a forest of Christmas trees, with mobs -of merry children shouting around them. - -The plain truth is that the world is not half so heartless as it -pretends to be. In its desire to wear that air of weary omniscience -which is supposed to bear witness to a wide experience of life it -often pooh-poohs appeals which make its well-regulated heart beat with -painful irregularity. There is as much hypocrisy in the scornful as in -the sentimental; and the worldly-wise man often sniffles behind the -handkerchief with which he pretends to stifle a sneeze. We pretend -to have become too wise to be moved by lighted candles or stirred by -children's voices singing of angels and shepherds; but in our heart of -hearts the old story is dear to us, and we are eager eavesdroppers when -the ancient mysteries of love and sympathy and friendship are talked -about by the poets or novelists. - -We speak patronizingly of those old-fashioned Christmas essays in the -"Sketch Book," and we pretend to be amused by the recollection that -"The Christmas Carol" once filled us with an almost insane desire to -make somebody happy. But it is noticeable that the old text-books of -Christmas sentiment reappear year after year in an almost endless -variety of forms; and that in an age when the strong man boasts of -his distrust of emotion, and the strong woman holds sentiment in the -contempt one feels for out-grown toys, books that have to do with -Christmas are read with surreptitious pleasure. We apologize publicly -for our interest in them and deprecate the attempt to revive a faded -interest and recall a decayed tradition; but in private we read with -avidity these survivals of archaic feeling and prehistoric emotion. -When "The Birds' Christmas Carol" appeared, we laughed over it so as -to hide our tears. Mr. Janvier's charming account of Christmas ways in -Provence captivated us, and we found excuse for its tender regard for -old habits and observances in the fact that Mr. Janvier has been in the -habit of spending a good deal of time with a group of unworldly old -poets who still dream of joy and beauty as the precious things of life, -and hold to the fellowship of artists instead of forming a labor union. -Mr. Thomas Nelson Page, Mr. F. Marion Crawford, and Mr. F. Hopkinson -Smith have written undisguised Christmas stories with as little sense -of detachment from modern life as if they were telling detective tales; -and, what is more astonishing to the worldly-wise man, these stories -have a glow of life, a vitality of charm and sweetness in them, that -make scorn and cynicism seem cheap and vulgar. And here comes Dr. -Crothers and stirs the smouldering Christmas fire into a blaze and sits -down before it as if it were real logs in combustion and not a trick -with gas, and makes gentle sport of the wisdom of the sceptic. These -recent revivals of Christmas literature show a surprising vitality, -and have met with a surprising response from a generation popularly -believed to be given over to the making of money and the extirpation -of human feeling. It is even said that there are men and women of -such insistent hopefulness that they anticipate a time when the aged -in feeling, the worn-out in sentiment, the infirm in imagination, and -the crippled in heart will be brought again within sound of Christmas -bells. - -There is little hope of bringing in the reign of good feeling by -lighting a single Christmas fire, but a long line of such fires -touching the receding horizon of the past with a happy glow is -like a revival of a fading memory; it makes us suddenly aware of -half-forgotten associations with the days that were once full of life -and rippling with merriment like a mountain stream suffused with -sunlight. We surrender ourselves so completely to the noisy activities -of our own age that we forget how infinitesimal a portion of time it -is and how misleading its emphasis often is. It is only a point on the -face of the dial; but we accept it as if it were a present eternity, a -final stage in the evolution of men. That many of its sacred texts are -the maxims of a short-sighted prudence, many of its major interests as -short-lived as the passions of children, many of its ideas of life the -cheapest parvenus in the world of thought, does not occur to us; its -cynicisms are often reflections of its spiritual shallowness, and its -scepticisms mere records of its meanness or corruption. Like all the -times that have gone before it, it is a fragment of a fragment, and the -only way to see life whole is to get away from it and look down on it -as it takes its little place in the larger order of history. - -In this greater order of time the long line of Christmas fires glows -like a great truth binding the fleeting generations into a unity -of faith and feeling. When we light our fire, we are one with our -ancestors of a thousand years ago; we evade the isolation of our time -and escape its provincial narrowness; we rejoin the race from whose -growth we have unconsciously separated ourselves; we open long-unused -rooms and are amazed to find how large the house of life is and how -hospitable. It has hearth room for all experience and for every kind -of emotion; for the thoughts that move in the order of logic; for the -emotions that rise and fall like great tides that flow in from the -infinite; for the vigor that is born of will, and for the power evoked -by discipline. It is when the different ages, with their diversities -of interest and growth, send their children to sit together before the -Christmas fire that we realize how wide life is, and how impossible it -is for any age to compass it. The faith against which one age shuts the -door stands serene and smiling in the centre of the next age; the joy -which one generation denies itself lies radiant on the face of a later -generation; the imagination which the reign of logic in one epoch sends -into the wilderness returns with full hands to be the master of a wiser -period. - -Before the Christmas fire that for two thousand years has sunk into -embers to blaze again into a great light at the end of the twelfth -month, men are not only reunited in the unbroken continuity of their -fortunes, but in the wholeness of their life; in their power of vision -as well as of sight, in their power of feeling as well as of thought, -in their power of love as well as of action. - -This large hospitality of the Christmas fire, before which kings and -beggars sit at ease and every human faculty finds its place, makes room -for every gift and grace; for reason, with severe and wrinkled face; -for sentiment, tender and reverent of all sweet and beautiful things; -for the imagination, seeing heavenly visions, and the fancy catching -glimpses of quaint or grotesque or fairy-like images, in the flame; -for poetry, singing full-throated with Milton, or homely, familiar and -domestic with the makers of the carols; for the story-tellers, spinning -their fascinating tales within the circle of the embracing glow; for -humor, full of smiles or filling the room with Homeric laughter; for -the players, whose mimic art shows the manger, the shepherds and -the kings to successive generations crowding the playhouse with the -eager joy of children or with the sacred memories of age; for the -preachers, to whom the season brings a text apart from the disputes and -antagonisms of the schools and churches; for companies of children, -impatiently waiting for the mysterious noise in the chimney; and for -graybeards recalling old days and ways,--yule logs, country dances, -waits singing under the frosty sky, stage coaches bearing guests and -hampers filled with dainties to country houses standing with open doors -and broad hearths for the fun and frolic, the tenderness and sentiment, -the poetry and piety, of Christmas-tide. - -At the end of nearly two thousand years Christmas shows no signs -of decrepitude or weariness; its danger lies not in forgetfulness -but in perverted uses and overstimulated activities. Its commercial -availability is pushed so far that its sentiment often loses -spontaneity and charm in excessive organization and prodigal -distribution. The Christmas shopper suffers such a perversion of -feeling that she hates the season she ought to bless; and the modern -Santa Claus is so intent on the ingenuity or the cost of his gifts -that he overlooks the only gift that warms the heart and translates -Christmas into the vernacular. - -If Christmas is to be saved from desecration and kept sacred, not only -to faith but to friendship, its sentiment must be revived year by year -in the joyful celebration of the old rites. We have been so eager of -late years to rid ourselves of superstition and "see things as they -are," that we have lost that vision of the large relations of things -in which alone their meaning and use is revealed. We have studied the -field at our doorsteps so thoroughly that we have lost sight of the -landscape in which its little cup of fruitfulness is poured as into -a great bowl rimmed by the horizon. One day out of three hundred and -sixty-five, detached from its ancient history and isolated from the -celebrations of centuries, cannot keep our hearts and hearths warm; we -must rekindle the old fires and join hands with the vanished companies -of friends who have kept the day and made it merry in the long ago. -The echoes of ancient song and laughter give it a rich merriment, a -ripe and tender wealth of associations. The mirth of one Christmas -overflows into another until the sense of an unbroken joy, sinking and -rising year after year like the tide of life in the fields, is borne -in upon us. This sense of the unity of men in the great experiences -steals back again into our hearts when we hear the old songs and read -the old stories. Alexander Smith, whose book of essays, "Dreamthorp," -is one of the books of the heart,--for there are books of the heart as -well as books of knowledge and books of power,--kindled his imagination -into a responsive glow by rereading every Christmas Day Milton's "Ode -on the Morning of Christ's Nativity." When one opens the volume at -this great song, it is like going into a church and hearing the organ -played by unseen hands; the silence is flooded by a vast music which -lifts the heart into the presence of great mysteries. But there is a -time for private devotions as well as for public worship, for domestic -as well as religious celebrations; and for every hour and place and -mood there is a song and story. There are tender hymns for the devout, -and spirited songs for those who celebrate together old days and -ancient friendships; there are quaint carols for those whose hearts -long for the quiet and pleasant ways of an olden time, and there are -roaring catches for those whose gayety rises to the flood; there are -meditations for the solitary, and there are stories for the little -groups about the fire. - -A Book of Christmas is a text-book of piety, friendship, merriment; a -record of the real business of the race, which is not to make money, -but to make life full and sweet and satisfying. It is a book to put -into the hands of young men eager to start on the race and of young -women to whom the future holds out a dazzling vision of a prosperity -of pleasure and success; for it translates the word on all lips into -its only comprehensible terms. In the glow of the Christmas fire the -man who has made a fortune without making friends is a tragic failure, -and the woman who has won the place and power she saw shining with -delusive splendor on the far horizon and missed happiness faces one of -life's bitterest ironies. It is a book for those who have fallen under -the delusion that action is the only form of effective expression, and -that to be useful one must rush along the road with the ruthless speed -of an automobile; forgetting that action is only a path to being, and -that the joy of life is largely found by the way. It is a book for -those ardent spirits to whom the one interest in life is making people -over and fitting them into their places in a rigid order of arbitrary -goodness, forgetting that to the heart of a child the Kingdom of Heaven -is always open, and the ultimate grace of it is the purity which is -free and unconscious. It is a book for the sceptical and cynical, whose -blighted sympathy and insight regain their vitality in the atmosphere -of its love and kindness, its fun and frolic, its fellowship of loyal -hearts and true. - -Above all, the Book of Christmas is a book of joy in the sadness of the -world, a book of play in the work of the world, a book of consolation -in the sorrow of the world. - - HAMILTON W. MABIE - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - INTRODUCTION _Hamilton W. Mabie_ v - - - I - - SIGNS OF THE SEASON - - "The Time draws near the Birth of Christ" _Alfred Tennyson_ 4 - - An Hue and Cry after Christmas _Old English Tract_ 5 - - The Doge's Christmas Shooting _F. Marion Crawford_ 6 - - Thursday Processions in Advent _William S. Walsh_ 7 - - The Glastonbury Thorn _Alexander F. Chamberlain_ 9 - - In the Kitchen _Old English Ballad_ 11 - - Christmas in England _Washington Irving_ 12 - - Christmas Invitation _William Barnes_ 16 - - A Christmas Market _Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick_ 17 - - The Star of Bethlehem in Holland _Bow-Bells Annual_ 18 - - The Pickwick Club goes down to Dingley Dell _Charles Dickens_ 19 - - A Visit from St. Nicholas _Clement C. Moore_ 24 - - Crowded Out _Rosalie M. Jonas_ 26 - - - II - - HOLIDAY SAINTS AND LORDS - - My Lord of Misrule _T. K. Hervey_ 31 - - St. Nicholas _Collated_ 32 - - An Old Saint in a New World _Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer_ 33 - - St. Thomas _Collated, W. P. R._ 35 - - Kriss Kringle _Thomas Bailey Aldrich_ 36 - - Il Santissimo Bambino _Collated, W. P. R._ 37 - - The Christ Child _Elise Traut_ 38 - - The April Baby is Thankful "_Elizabeth_" 38 - - Good King Wenceslas _Old English Carol_ 41 - - Jean Valjean plays the Christmas Saint _Victor Hugo_ 42 - - St. Brandan _Matthew Arnold_ 45 - - St. Stephen's, or Boxing Day _Collated, W. P. R._ 47 - - St. Basil in Trikkola _J. Theodore Bent_ 48 - - - III - - CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS - - The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ _From "The Golden Legend"_ 55 - - Folk-lore of Christmas Tide _Collected by A. F. Chamberlain_ 58 - - Hunting the Wren _Quoted by T. K. Hervey_ 61 - - The Presepio _Hone's Year Book_ 64 - - Hodening in Kent _Contributed to The Church Times_ 65 - - Origin of the Christmas Tree _William S. Walsh_ 66 - - Origin of the Christmas Card _William S. Walsh_ 67 - - The Yule Clog _T. K. Hervey_ 68 - - "Come bring with a Noise" _Robert Herrick_ 69 - - Shoe or Stocking _Edith M. Thomas_ 70 - - Jule-Nissen _Jacob Riis_ 71 - - "Lame Needles" in Eubœa _J. Theodore Bent_ 73 - - Who Rides behind the Bells? _Zona Gale_ 76 - - Guests at Yule _Edmund Clarence Stedman_ 78 - - - IV - - CHRISTMAS CAROLS - - "I saw Three Ships" _Old English Carol_ 83 - - "Lordings, listen to Our Lay" _Earliest Existing Carol_ 84 - - The Cherry-Tree Carol _Old English Carol_ 86 - - "In Excelsis Gloria" _From the Harleian MSS._ 87 - - "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" _Old English Carol_ 87 - - The Golden Carol _Old English Carol_ 89 - - Caput apri refero resonens laudes domino - _From a Balliol MS. of about 1540_ 90 - - "Villagers All, this Frosty Tide" _Kenneth Grahame_ 90 - - Holly Song _William Shakespeare_ 92 - - "Before the Paling of the Stars" _Christina G. Rossetti_ 92 - - The Minstrels played their Christmas Tune _William Wordsworth_ 93 - - A Carol from the Old French _Henry W. Longfellow_ 95 - - "From Far Away we come to you" _Old English Carol_ 97 - - A Christmas Carol _James Russell Lowell_ 98 - - A Christmas Carol for Children _Martin Luther_ 99 - - - V - - CHRISTMAS DAY - - The Unbroken Song _Henry W. Longfellow_ 104 - - A Scene of Mediæval Christmas _John Addington Symonds_ 105 - - Christmas in Dreamthorp _Alexander Smith_ 111 - - By the Christmas Fire _Hamilton W. Mabie_ 113 - - Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity _John Milton_ 114 - - Christmas Church _Washington Irving_ 119 - - Dolly urges Silas Marner to go to Church _George Eliot_ 124 - - Yule in the Old Town _Jacob Riis_ 127 - - The Mahogany Tree _William Makepeace Thackeray_ 132 - - The Holly and the Ivy _Old English Song_ 134 - - Ballade of Christmas Ghosts _Andrew Lang_ 135 - - Christmas Treasures _Eugene Field_ 136 - - Wassailer's Song _Robert Southwell_ 138 - - - VI - - CHRISTMAS HYMNS - - A Hymn on the Nativity _Ben Jonson_ 143 - - While Shepherds Watched _Nahum Tate_ 144 - - O, Little Town of Bethlehem _Phillips Brooks_ 145 - - The First, Best Christmas Night _Margaret Deland_ 146 - - It Came upon the Midnight Clear _Edmund H. Sears_ 147 - - A Christmas Hymn _Eugene Field_ 149 - - The Song of the Shepherds _Edwin Markham_ 150 - - A Christmas Hymn _Richard Watson Gilder_ 152 - - A Christmas Hymn for Children _Josephine Daskam Bacon_ 153 - - Slumber-Songs of the Madonna _Alfred Noyes_ 154 - - - VII - - CHRISTMAS REVELS - - "Make me Merry both More and Less" - _Old Balliol MS. of about 1540_ 164 - - The Feast of Saint Stephen in Venice _F. Marion Crawford_ 165 - - The Feast of Fools _William Hone_ 167 - - The Feast of the Ass _William Hone_ 168 - - The Revel of Sir Hugonin de Guisay _William S. Walsh_ 170 - - Revels of the Inns of Court _T. K. Hervey_ 172 - - King Witlaf's Drinking-Horn _Henry W. Longfellow_ 175 - - Old Christmastide _Sir Walter Scott_ 176 - - Christmas Games in "Old Wardle's" Kitchen _Charles Dickens_ 179 - - A "Mystery" as performed in Mexico _Bayard Taylor_ 183 - - - VIII - - WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS KIN - - Christmas Night of '62 _William Gordon McCabe_ 191 - - Merry Christmas in the Tenements _Jacob Riis_ 192 - - Christmas at Sea _Robert Louis Stevenson_ 200 - - The First Christmas Tree in the Legation Compound, Tokyo - _Mary Crawford Fraser_ 202 - - Christmas in India _Rudyard Kipling_ 208 - - A Belgian Christmas Eve Procession _All the Year Round_ 210 - - Christmas at the Cape _John Runcie_ 215 - - The "Good Night" in Spain _Fernan Caballero_ 216 - - Christmas in Rome _John Addington Symonds_ 218 - - Christmas in Burgundy _M. Fertiault_ 222 - - Christmas in Germany _Amy Fay_ 225 - - Christmas Dinner in a Clipper's Fo'c'sle - _Herbert Elliot Hamblen_ 227 - - Christmas in Jail _Rolf Boldrewood_ 229 - - Colonel Carter's Christmas Tree _F. Hopkinson Smith_ 231 - - - IX - - CHRISTMAS STORIES - - Christmas Roses _Zona Gale_ 241 - - The Fir Tree _Hans Christian Andersen_ 245 - - The Christmas Banquet _Nathaniel Hawthorne_ 257 - - A Christmas Eve in Exile _Alphonse Daudet_ 275 - - The Rehearsal of the Mummers' Play _Eden Phillpotts_ 280 - - - X - - NEW YEAR - - New Year _Richard Watson Gilder_ 298 - - Midnight Mass for the Dying Year _Henry W. Longfellow_ 299 - - The Death of the Old Year _Alfred Tennyson_ 301 - - A New Year's Carol _Martin Luther_ 303 - - New Year's Resolutions "_Elizabeth_" 303 - - Love and Joy come to You _Old English Carol_ 305 - - Ring Out, Wild Bells _Alfred Tennyson_ 307 - - New Year's Eve, 1850 _James Russell Lowell_ 308 - - Rejoicings upon the New Year's Coming of Age _Charles Lamb_ 309 - - New Year's Rites in the Highlands _Charles Rogers_ 315 - - The Chinese New Year _H. C. Sirr_ 316 - - New Year's Gifts in Thessaly _J. Theodore Bent_ 319 - - "Smashing" in the New Year _Jacob Riis_ 322 - - New Year Calls in Old New York _William S. Walsh_ 323 - - Sylvester Abend in Davos _John Addington Symonds_ 325 - - - XI - - TWELFTH NIGHT--EPIPHANY - - "Now have Good Day!" _Old English Carol_ 337 - - A Twelfth Night Superstition _Barnaby Googe_ 338 - - Twelfth-Day Table Diversion _John Nott_ 339 - - The Blessing of the Waters _J. Theodore Bent_ 341 - - La Galette du Roi _William Hone_ 344 - - Drawing King and Queen _Universal Magazine_ 345 - - St. Distaff's Day and Plough Monday _Hone's Year Book_ 346 - - - XII - - THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT - - "As Little Children in a Darkened Hall" _Charles Henry Crandall_ 350 - - Christmas Dreams _Christopher North_ 351 - - The Professor's Christmas Sermon _Robert Browning_ 358 - - Awaiting the King _F. Marion Crawford_ 359 - - Elizabeth's Christmas Sermon "_Elizabeth_" 361 - - Nichola's "Reason Why" _Zona Gale_ 362 - - The Changing Spirit of Christmastide _Washington Irving_ 363 - - A Prayer for Christmas Peace _Charles Kingsley_ 365 - - Under the Holly Bough _Charles Mackay_ 366 - - Christmas Music _John Addington Symonds_ 367 - - A Christmas Sermon _Robert Louis Stevenson_ 368 - - - - -LIST OF PLATES - - - The Holy Night _Correggio_ _Frontispiece_ - - PAGE - - The Holy Night _C. Müller_ _facing_ 16 - - The Arrival of the Shepherds _Lerolle_ " 40 - - The Bells _Blashfield_ " 72 - - The Madonna _Bellini_ " 96 - - The Virgin adoring the Infant Christ _Correggio_ " 120 - - The Madonna _Murillo_ " 152 - - Holy Night _Van Ulade_ " 184 - - The Holy Family with the Shepherds _Titian_ " 216 - - Madonna della Sedia _Raphael_ " 272 - - The Adoration of the Magi _Paolo Veronese_ " 304 - - The Adoration of the Magi _Memling_ " 344 - - - - -I - -SIGNS OF THE SEASON - -[Illustration: SIGNS OF THE SEASON] - - An Hue and Cry after Christmas - The Doge's Christmas Shooting - Thursday Processions in Advent - The Glastonbury Thorn - In the Kitchen - Christmas in England - Christmas Invitation - A Christmas Market - The Star of Bethlehem in Holland - The Pickwick Club goes down to Dingley Dell - A Visit from St. Nicholas - Crowded Out - -[Illustration] - - The time draws near the birth of Christ: - The moon is hid; the night is still; - The Christmas bells from hill to hill - Answer each other in the mist. - - Four voices of four hamlets round, - From far and near, on mead and moor, - Swell out and fail, as if a door - Were shut between me and the sound: - - Each voice four changes on the wind, - That now dilate, and now decrease, - Peace and goodwill, goodwill and peace, - Peace and goodwill, to all mankind. - - ALFRED TENNYSON - - -An Hue and Cry after Christmas - -_"Any man or woman ... that can give any knowledge, or tell any -tidings, of an old, old, very old gray-bearded gentleman, called -Christmas, who was wont to be a verie familiar ghest, and visite all -sorts of people both pore and rich, and used to appear in glittering -gold, silk, and silver, in the Court, and in all shapes in the Theater -in Whitehall, and had ringing, feasts, and jollitie in all places, both -in the citie and countrie, for his comming: ... whosoever can tel what -is become of him, or where he may be found, let them bring him back -againe into England."_ - -That curious little tract "An Hue and Cry after Christmas" bears -the date of 1645; and we shall best give our readers an idea of its -character by setting out that title at length, as the same exhibits a -tolerable abstract of its contents. It runs thus: "The arraignment, -conviction, and imprisoning of Christmas on St. Thomas day last, and -how he broke out of prison in the holidayes and got away, onely left -his hoary hair and gray beard sticking between two iron bars of a -window. With an Hue and Cry after Christmas, and a letter from Mr. -Woodcock, a fellow in Oxford, to a malignant lady in London. And divers -passages between the lady and the cryer about Old Christmas; and what -shift he was fain to make to save his life, and great stir to fetch him -back again. Printed by Simon Minc'd Pye for Cissely Plum-Porridge, and -are to be sold by Ralph Fidler Chandler at the signe of the Pack of -Cards in Mustard Alley in Brawn Street." - -Besides the allusions contained in the latter part of this title to -some of the good things that follow in the old man's train, great pains -are taken by the "cryer" in describing him, and by the lady in mourning -for him, to allude to many of the cheerful attributes that made him -dear to the people. His great antiquity and portly appearance are -likewise insisted upon. "For age this hoarie-headed man was of great -yeares, and as white as snow. He entered the Romish Kallendar, time -out of mind, as old or very neer as Father Mathusalem was,--one that -looked fresh in the Bishops' time, though their fall made him pine away -ever since. He was full and fat as any divine doctor of them all; he -looked under the consecrated lawne sleeves as big as Bul-beefe,--just -like Bacchus upon a tunne of wine, when the grapes hang shaking about -his eares; but since the Catholike liquor is taken from him he is -much wasted, so that he hath looked very thin and ill of late." "The -poor," says the "cryer" to the lady, "are sorry for" his departure; -"for they go to every door a-begging, as they were wont to do (_good -Mrs., Somewhat against this good time_); but Time was transformed, -_Away, be gone; here is not for you_." The lady, however, declares that -she for one will not be deterred from welcoming old Christmas. "No, -no!" says she; "bid him come by night over the Thames, and we will -have a back-door open to let him in;" and ends by anticipating better -prospects for him another year. - - T. K. HERVEY - - -The Doge's Christmas Shooting - -At certain fixed times the Doge was allowed the relaxation of shooting, -but with so many restrictions and injunctions that the sport must have -been intolerably irksome. He was allowed or, more strictly speaking, -was ordered to proceed for this purpose, and about Christmas time, to -certain islets in the lagoons, where wild ducks bred in great numbers. -On his return he was obliged to present each member of the Great -Council with five ducks. This was called the gift of the "Oselle," that -being the name given by the people to the birds in question. In 1521, -about five thousand brace of birds had to be killed or snared in order -to fulfil this requirement; and if the unhappy Doge was not fortunate -enough, with his attendants, to secure the required number, he was -obliged to provide them by buying them elsewhere and at any price, for -the claims of the Great Council had to be satisfied in any case. This -was often an expensive affair. - -There was also another personage who could not have derived much -enjoyment from the Christmas shooting. This was the Doge's chamberlain, -whose duty it was to see to the just distribution of the game, so that -each bunch of two-and-a-half brace should contain a fair average of fat -and thin birds, lest it should be said that the Doge showed favour to -some members of the Council more than to others. - -By and by a means was sought of commuting this annual tribute of -ducks. The Doge Antonio Grimani requested and obtained permission to -coin a medal of the value of a quarter of a ducat, equal to about four -shillings or one dollar, and to call it "a Duck," "Osella," whereby it -was signified that it took the place of the traditional bird. - - F. MARION CRAWFORD in _Salve Venetia!_ - - -Thursday Processions in Advent - -The Eve of the festival of St. Nicholas, December 5, in mediæval -days was the occasion when choir and altar boys met and in solemn -mimicry of the procedure of their elders elected a boy-bishop and his -prebendaries who remained in office and moreover exercised practically -full episcopal functions until Holy Innocents Day. - -In the full vestments of the church these minor clergy made -"visitations" in the neighborhood usually on three successive -Thursdays, and collected small sums of money known as the "Bishop's -Subsidy." Says Barnaby Googe:-- - - "Three weeks before the day whereon was borne the Lorde of Grace, - And on the Thursdays boyes and gyrles do runne in every place - And bounce and beat at every doore, with blowes and lustie snaps - And crie the Advent of the Lord, not borne as yet perhaps, - And wishing to the neighbors all, that in the houses dwell, - A happy year, and everything to spring and prosper well; - Here have they peares, and plumbs and pence, each man gives - willinglie, - For these three nights are always thought unfortunate to bee, - Where in they are afrayde of sprites, cankred witches spight, - And dreadful devils blacke and grim, that then have chiefest might. - - * * * * * - - In these same dayes yong, wanton gyrles that meete for marriage bee, - Doe search to know the names of them that shall their husbands bee - Four onyons, five, or eight, they take, and make in every one - Such names as they do fansie most and best do think upon; - Thus neere the chimney them they set, and that same onyon than, - That first doth sproute, doth surely beare the name of their good - man." - -In these same December nights it is that these "yong gyrles," according -to Barnaby, creep to the woodpile after nightfall and at random each -pulls out the first stick the hand touches. - - "Which if it streight and even be, and have no knots at all, - A gentle husband then they thinke shall surlie to them fall; - But if it fowle and crooked bee, and knotties here and there, - A crabbed churlish husband then they earnestly do feare." - -In the last days before Christmas, says Lady Morgan, Italian -_pifferari_ descend from the mountains to Naples and Rome in order -to play their pipes before the pictures of the Virgin and the Child, -and--out of compliment to Joseph--in front of the carpenters' shops. - -Somewhat akin is the old English custom of the carrying about the -images of the Virgin and Christ in the week before Christmas by poor -women who expect a dole from every house visited. - -In certain parts of Normandy the farmers give to their children, or -to little ones borrowed from their neighbors, prepared torches, well -dried; with which these little folk--no one over twelve is eligible -for the office--run hither and yon, under the tree boughs, into fence -corners, singing the spell supposed to command the vermin of the field. -W. S. Walsh gives this translation of their incantation:-- - - Mice, caterpillars, and moles, - Get out, get out of my field; or - I will burn your blood and bones: - Trees and shrubs, - Give me bushels of apples. - -Condensed from _Some Curiosities of Popular Customs_. - - -The Glastonbury Thorn and other Plant Lore of Christmastide - -The legend of the Glastonbury Thorn is that after the death of Christ, -Joseph of Arimathea came over to England and a few days before -Christmas rested on the summit of Weary-all Hill, Glastonbury. There -he thrust into the ground his staff which on Christmas Eve was found -to be covered with snow white blossoms; and until it was destroyed -during the Civil wars the bush continued so to bloom, as cuttings from -the original thorn are said to bloom in the same wonderful way even -yet; but, with a fine disregard for the Gregorian reformation of the -Calendar, the blossoms do not appear until the 5th of January. - -The Sicilian children, so Folkard tells us, put pennyroyal in their -cots on Christmas Eve, "under the belief that at the exact hour and -minute when the infant Jesus was born this plant puts forth its -blossom." Another belief is that the blossoming occurs again on -Midsummer Night. - -In the East the Rose of Jericho is looked upon with favour by women -with child, for "there is a cherished legend that it first blossomed -at our Saviour's birth, closed at the Crucifixion, and opened again at -Easter, whence its name of Resurrection Flower." - -Gerarde, the old herbalist, tells us that the black hellebore is called -"Christ's Herb," or "Christmas Herb," because it "flowreth about the -birth of our Lord Jesus Christ." - -Many plants, trees, and flowers owe their peculiarities to their -connection with the birth or the childhood of Christ. The _Ornithogalum -umbellatum_ is called the "Star of Bethlehem," according to Folkard, -because "its white stellate flowers resemble the pictures of the star -that indicated the birth of the Saviour of mankind." The _Galium -verum_, "Our Lady's Bedstraw," receives its name from the belief that -the manger in which the infant Jesus lay was filled with this plant. - -"The brooms and the chick-peas began to rustle and crackle, and by -this noise betrayed the fugitives. The flax bristled up. Happily -for her, Mary was near a juniper; the hospitable tree opened its -branches as arms and enclosed the Virgin and the Child within their -folds, affording them a secure hiding-place. Then the Virgin uttered -a malediction against the brooms and the chick-peas, and ever since -that day they have always rustled and crackled." The story goes on to -tell us that the Virgin "pardoned the flax its weakness, and gave the -juniper her blessing," which accounts for the use of the latter in some -countries for Christmas decorations,--like the holly in England and -France. - -"One Christmas Eve a peasant felt a great desire to eat cabbage and, -having none himself, he slipped into a neighbour's garden to cut some. -Just as he had filled his basket, the Christ-Child rode past on his -white horse, and said: 'Because thou hast stolen on the holy night, -thou shalt immediately sit in the moon with thy basket of cabbage.'" -And so, we are told, "the culprit was immediately wafted up to the -moon," and there he can still be seen as "the man in the moon." - - ALEXANDER F. CHAMBERLAIN - - -The Signs of the Season in the Kitchen - - "The cooks shall be busied, by day and by night, - In roasting and boiling, for taste and delight, - Their senses in liquor that's happy they'll steep, - Though they be afforded to have little sleep; - They still are employed for to dress us, in brief, - Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd-pies, and roast beef. - - "Although the cold weather doth hunger provoke, - 'Tis a comfort to see how the chimneys do smoke; - Provision is making for beer, ale, and wine, - For all that are willing or ready to dine: - Then haste to the kitchen for diet the chief, - Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd-pies, and roast beef. - - "All travellers, as they do pass on their way, - At gentlemen's halls are invited to stay, - Themselves to refresh and their horses to rest, - Since that he must be old Christmas's guest; - Nay, the poor shall not want, but have for relief - Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd-pies, and roast beef." - - From EVANS' _Collection of English Ballads_ - - -Christmas in England - -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 flavour of those honest days of yore, in -which, perhaps with equal fallacy, I am apt to think the world was more -home-bred, 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. - -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 fervour and pathos during the season of Advent, until -they break forth in 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. - -It is a beautiful arrangement, also derived from 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 bonds 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 mementoes of childhood. - -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. - - * * * * * - -In the course of a December tour in Yorkshire, I rode for some distance -in one of the public coaches, on the day preceding Christmas. The coach -was crowded, both inside and out, with passengers, who, by their talk, -seemed principally bound to the mansions of relations and friends to -eat the Christmas dinner. It was loaded also with hampers of game, -and baskets and boxes of delicacies; and hares hung dangling their -long ears about the coachman's box--presents from distant friends for -the impending feasts. I had three fine rosy-cheeked schoolboys for my -fellow-passengers inside, full of the buxom health and manly spirits -which I have observed in the children of this country. They were -returning home for the holidays in high glee, and promising themselves -a world of enjoyment. It was delightful to hear the gigantic plans of -pleasure of the little rogues, and the impracticable feats they were to -perform during their six weeks' emancipation from the abhorred thraldom -of book, birch, and pedagogue. They were full of anticipations of the -meeting with the family and household, down to the very cat and dog; -and of the joy they were to give their little sisters by the presents -with which their pockets were crammed; but the meeting to which they -seemed to look forward with the greatest impatience was with Bantam, -which I found to be a pony, and, according to their talk, possessed of -more virtues than any steed since the days of Bucephalus. How he could -trot! how he could run! and then such leaps as he would take--there was -not a hedge in the whole country that he could not clear. - -They were under the particular guardianship of the coachman, to whom, -whenever an opportunity presented, they addressed a host of questions, -and pronounced him one of the best fellows in the whole world. Indeed, -I could not but notice the more than ordinary air of bustle and -importance of the coachman, who wore his hat a little on one side, and -had a large bunch of Christmas greens stuck in the button-hole of his -coat. He is always a personage full of mighty care and business, and he -is particularly so during this season, having so many commissions to -execute in consequence of the great interchange of presents. - - * * * * * - -Perhaps the impending holiday might have given a more than usual -animation to the country, for it seemed to me as if everybody was in -good looks and good spirits. Game, poultry, and other luxuries of -the table, were in brisk circulation in the villages; the grocers', -butchers', and fruiterers' shops were thronged with customers. The -housewives were stirring briskly about, putting their dwellings in -order; and the glossy branches of holly, with their bright red berries, -began to appear at the windows. The scene brought to mind an old -writer's account of Christmas preparations:--"Now capons and hens, -besides turkeys, geese, and ducks, with beef and mutton--must all die; -for in twelve days a multitude of people will not be fed with a little. -Now plums and spice, sugar and honey, square it among pies and broth. -Now or never must music be in tune, for the youth must dance and sing -to get them a heat, while the aged sit by the fire. The country maid -leaves half her market, and must be sent again, if she forgets a pack -of cards on Christmas eve. Great is the contention of Holly and Ivy, -whether master or dame wears the breeches. Dice and cards benefit the -butler; and if the cook do not lack wit, he will sweetly lick his -fingers." - - WASHINGTON IRVING - - -Christmas Invitation - - Come down to marra night, an' mind - Don't leave thy fiddle-bag behind. - We'll shiake a lag an' drink a cup - O' yal to kip wold Chris'mas up. - - An' let thy sister tiake thy yarm, - The wa'k woont do 'er any harm: - Ther's noo dirt now to spwile her frock - Var 'tis a-vroze so hard's a rock. - - Ther bent noo stranngers that 'ull come, - But only a vew naighbours: zome - Vrom Stowe, an' Combe, an' two ar dree - Vrom uncles up at Rookery. - - An' thee woot vine a ruozy fiace, - An' pair ov eyes so black as sloos, - The pirtiest oones in al the pliace. - I'm sure I needen tell thee whose. - - We got a back bran', dree girt logs - So much as dree ov us can car: - We'll put 'em up athirt the dogs, - An' miake a vier to the bar, - - An' ev'ry oone wull tell his tiale, - An' ev'ry oone wull zing his zong, - An' ev'ry oone wull drink his yal, - To love an' frien'ship al night long. - - We'll snap the tongs, we'll have a bal, - We'll shiake the house, we'll rise the ruf, - We'll romp an' miake the maidens squal, - A catchen o'm at bline-man's buff. - - Zoo come to marra night, an' mind - Don't leave thy fiddle-bag behind. - We'll shiake a lag, an' drink a cup - O' yal to kip wold Chris'mas up. - - WILLIAM BARNES - -[Illustration: THE HOLY NIGHT. _C. Müller._] - - -A Christmas Market - -Out of doors the various market-places are covered with little stalls -selling cheap clothing, cheap toys, jewellery, sweets, and gingerbread; -all the heterogeneous rubbish you have seen a thousand times at German -fairs, and never tire of seeing if a fair delights you. - -But better than the Leipziger Messe, better even than a summer market -at Freiburg or at Heidelberg, is a Christmas market in any one of the -old German cities in the hill country, when the streets and the open -places are covered with crisp clean snow, and the mountains are white -with it, and the moon shines on the ancient houses, and the tinkle of -sledge bells reaches you when you escape from the din of the market, -and look down at the bustle of it from some silent place, a high -window, perhaps, or the high empty steps leading into the cathedral. -The air is cold and still, and heavy with the scent of the Christmas -trees brought from the forest for the pleasure of the children. Day -by day you see the rows of them growing thinner, and if you go to the -market on Christmas Eve itself you will find only a few trees left out -in the cold. The market is empty, the peasants are harnessing their -horses or their oxen, the women are packing up their unsold goods. In -every home in the city one of the trees that scented the open air a -week ago is shining now with lights and little gilded nuts and apples, -and is helping to make that Christmas smell, all compact of the pine -forest, wax candles, cakes, and painted toys, you must associate so -long as you live with Christmas in Germany. - - MRS. ALFRED SIDGWICK in _Home Life in Germany_ - - -The Star of Bethlehem as Seen in Holland - -The Star of Bethlehem, as seen in Holland, is a pretty but a cheap -sight, for it costs nothing. 'Tis the Harbinger of Christmas--a huge -illuminated star which is carried through the silent, dark, Dutch -streets, shining upon the crowding people, and typical of the star -which once guided the wise men of the East. - -The young men of a Dutch town who go to the expense of this star, -which, carried through the streets, is the signal that Christmas has -come once again, are swayed by the full intention of turning the Star -of Bethlehem to account. - -They gather money for the poor from the crowds who come out to welcome -the symbol of peace, and having done this for the good of those whom -fortune has not befriended, they betake them to the head burgomaster -of the town, who is bound to set down the youths who form the Star -company to a very comfortable meal. 'Tis a great institution, the Star -of Bethlehem, in many Dutch towns and cities; and may it never die out, -for it does harm to no man, and good to many. - - _Bow-Bells Annual_ - - -The Pickwick Club goes down to keep Christmas at Dingley Dell - -As brisk as bees, if not altogether as light as fairies, did the -four Pickwickians assemble on the morning of the twenty-second -day of December, in the year of grace in which these, their -faithfully-recorded adventures, were undertaken and accomplished. -Christmas was close at hand, in all his bluff and hearty honesty; it -was the season of hospitality, merriment, and open-heartedness; the old -year was preparing, like an ancient philosopher, to call his friends -around him, and amidst the sound of feasting and revelry to pass gently -and calmly away. Gay and merry was the time; and right gay and merry -were at least four of the numerous hearts that were gladdened by its -coming. - - * * * * * - -The portmanteaus and carpet-bags have been stowed away, and Mr. Weller -and the guard are endeavouring to insinuate into the fore-boot a huge -cod-fish several sizes too large for it, which is snugly packed up, -in a long brown basket, with a layer of straw over the top, and which -has been left to the last, in order that he may repose in safety on -the half-dozen barrels of real native oysters, all the property of Mr. -Pickwick, which have been arranged in regular order, at the bottom of -the receptacle. The interest displayed in Mr. Pickwick's countenance -is most intense, as Mr. Weller and the guard try to squeeze the -cod-fish into the boot, first head first, and then tail first, and then -top upwards, and then bottom upwards, and then side-ways, and then -long-ways, all of which artifices the implacable cod-fish sturdily -resists, until the guard accidentally hits him in the very middle of -the basket, whereupon he suddenly disappears into the boot, and with -him, the head and shoulders of the guard himself, who, not calculating -upon so sudden a cessation of the passive resistance of the cod-fish, -experiences a very unexpected shock, to the unsmotherable delight of -all the porters and by-standers. Upon this, Mr. Pickwick smiles with -great good humour, and drawing a shilling from his waistcoat pocket, -begs the guard, as he picks himself out of the boot, to drink his -health in a glass of hot brandy and water, at which the guard smiles -too, and Messrs. Snodgrass, Winkle, and Tupman, all smile in company. -The guard and Mr. Weller disappear for five minutes, most probably -to get the hot brandy and water, for they smell very strongly of it, -when they return; the coachman mounts to the box, Mr. Weller jumps up -behind, the Pickwickians pull their coats round their legs, and their -shawls over their noses; the helpers pull the horse-cloths off, the -coachman shouts out a cheery "All right," and away they go. - -They have rumbled through the streets, and jolted over the stones, -and at length reach the wide and open country. The wheels skim over -the hard and frosty ground; and the horses, bursting into a canter at -a smart crack of the whip, step along the road as if the load behind -them, coach, passengers, cod-fish, oyster barrels, and all, were but -a feather at their heels. They have descended a gentle slope, and -enter upon a level, as compact and dry as a solid block of marble, two -miles long. Another crack of the whip, and on they speed, at a smart -gallop, the horses tossing their heads and rattling the harness as -if in exhilaration at the rapidity of the motion, while the coachman -holding whip and reins in one hand, takes off his hat with the other, -and resting it on his knees, pulls out his handkerchief, and wipes his -forehead partly because he has a habit of doing it, and partly because -it's as well to show the passengers how cool he is, and what an easy -thing it is to drive four-in-hand, when you have had as much practice -as he has. Having done this very leisurely (otherwise the effect would -be materially impaired), he replaces his handkerchief, pulls on his -hat, adjusts his gloves, squares his elbows, cracks the whip again, and -on they speed, more merrily than before. - -A few small houses scattered on either side of the road, betoken the -entrance to some town or village. The lively notes of the guard's -key-bugle vibrate in the clear cold air, and wake up the old gentleman -inside, who carefully letting down the window-sash half way, and -standing sentry over the air, takes a short peep out, and then -carefully pulling it up again, informs the other inside that they're -going to change directly; on which the other inside wakes himself up, -and determines to postpone his next nap until after the stoppage. Again -the bugle sounds lustily forth, and rouses the cottager's wife and -children, who peep out at the house-door, and watch the coach till it -turns the corner, when they once more crouch round the blazing fire, -and throw on another log of wood against father comes home, while -father himself, a full mile off, has just exchanged a friendly nod -with the coachman, and turned round, to take a good long stare at the -vehicle as it whirls away. - -And now the bugle plays a lively air as the coach rattles through the -ill-paved streets of a country town; and the coachman, undoing the -buckle which keeps his ribands together, prepares to throw them off -the moment he stops. Mr. Pickwick emerges from his coat collar, and -looks about him with great curiosity: perceiving which, the coachman -informs Mr. Pickwick of the name of the town, and tells him it was -market-day yesterday, both which pieces of information Mr. Pickwick -retails to his fellow-passengers, whereupon they emerge from their coat -collars too, and look about them also. Mr. Winkle, who sits at the -extreme edge, with one leg dangling in the air, is nearly precipitated -into the street, as the coach twists round the sharp corner by the -cheesemonger's shop, and turns into the market-place; and before Mr. -Snodgrass, who sits next to him, has recovered from his alarm, they -pull up at the inn yard, where the fresh horses, with cloths on, are -already waiting. The coachman throws down the reins and gets down -himself, and the other outside passengers drop down also, except those -who have no great confidence in their ability to get up again, and they -remain where they are, and stamp their feet against the coach to warm -them; looking with longing eyes and red noses at the bright fire in the -inn bar, and the sprigs of holly with red berries which ornament the -window. - -But the guard has delivered at the corn-dealer's shop, the brown paper -packet he took out of the little pouch which hangs over his shoulder -by a leathern strap, and has seen the horses carefully put to, and has -thrown on the pavement the saddle which was brought from London on the -coach-roof, and has assisted in the conference between the coachman -and the hostler about the grey mare that hurt her off-fore-leg last -Tuesday, and he and Mr. Weller are all right behind, and the coachman -is all right in front, and the old gentleman inside, who has kept the -window down full two inches all this time, has pulled it up again, -and the cloths are off, and they are all ready for starting, except -the "two stout gentlemen," whom the coachman enquires after with some -impatience. Hereupon the coachman and the guard, and Sam Weller, and -Mr. Winkle, and Mr. Snodgrass, and all the hostlers, and every one of -the idlers, who are more in number than all the others put together, -shout for the missing gentlemen as loud as they can bawl. A distant -response is heard from the yard, and Mr. Pickwick and Mr. Tupman come -running down it, quite out of breath, for they have been having a glass -of ale a-piece, and Mr. Pickwick's fingers are so cold that he has been -full five minutes before he could find the sixpence to pay for it. -The coachman shouts an admonitory "Now, then, gen'l-m'n," the guard -re-echoes it--the old gentleman inside, thinks it a very extraordinary -thing that people will get down when they know there isn't time for -it--Mr. Pickwick struggles up on one side, Mr. Tupman on the other, -Mr. Winkle cries "All right," and off they start. Shawls are pulled -up, coat collars are re-adjusted, the pavement ceases, the houses -disappear; and they are once again dashing along the open road, with -the fresh clear air blowing in their faces, and gladdening their very -hearts within them. - -Such was the progress of Mr. Pickwick and his friends by the Muggleton -Telegraph, on their way to Dingley Dell; and at three o'clock that -afternoon, they all stood high and dry, safe and sound, hale and -hearty, upon the steps of the Blue Lion, having taken on the road -enough of ale and brandy, to enable them to bid defiance to the frost -that was binding up the earth in its iron fetters, and weaving its -beautiful network upon the trees and hedges. - - CHARLES DICKENS - - -A Visit from St. Nicholas - - 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house - Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; - The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, - In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; - The children were nestled all snug in their beds, - While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; - And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap, - Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap-- - When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, - I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. - Away to the window I flew like a flash, - Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. - The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow - Gave a lustre of midday to objects below; - When what to my wondering eyes should appear, - But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer, - With a little old driver, so lively and quick - I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick! - More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, - And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name: - "Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! - On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen! - To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall! - Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!" - As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, - When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, - So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, - With the sleigh full of toys--and St. Nicholas, too. - And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof - The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. - As I drew in my head, and turning around, - Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. - He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot, - And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; - A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, - And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. - His eyes, how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry! - His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry; - His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, - And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow. - The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, - And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. - He had a broad face and a little round belly - That shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. - He was chubby and plump--a right jolly old elf; - And I laughed, when I saw him, in spite of myself. - A wink of his eye and a twist of his head - Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. - He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, - And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, - And laying his finger aside of his nose, - And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. - He sprang in his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, - And away they all flew like the down of a thistle; - But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight: - "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!" - - CLEMENT C. MOORE - - -Crowded Out - - Nobody ain't Christmas shoppin' - Fur his stockin', - Nobody ain't cotch no turkkey, - Nobody ain't bake no pie. - Nobody's laid nuthin' by; - Santa Claus don't cut no figger - Fur his mammy's little nigger. - - Seems lak everybody's rushin' - An' er crushin'; - Crowdin' shops an' jammin' trolleys, - Buyin' shoes an' shirts an' toys - Fur de white folks' girls an' boys; - But no hobby-horse ain't rockin' - Fur his little wore-out stockin'. - - He ain't quar'lin, recollec', - He don't 'spec' - Nuthin'--it's his not expectin' - Makes his mammy wish--O Laws!-- - Fur er nigger Santy Claus, - Totin' jus' er toy balloon - Fur his mammy's little coon. - - ROSALIE M. JONAS - - - - -II - -HOLIDAY SAINTS AND LORDS - -[Illustration: HOLIDAY SAINTS AND LORDS] - - My Lord of Misrule - St. Nicholas - An Old Saint in a New World - St. Thomas - Kriss Kringle - II Santissimo Bambino - The Christ Child - The April Baby is Thankful - Good King Wenceslas - Jean Valjean plays the Christmas Saint - St. Brandan - St. Stephen's, or Boxing Day - St. Basil in Trikkola - -[Illustration] - - "Here comes old Father Christmas, - With sound of fife and drums; - With mistletoe about his brows, - So merrily he comes!" - - ROSE TERRY COOKE - - -My Lord of Misrule - -"Firste," says Master Stubs, "all the wilde heades of the parishe -conventynge together, chuse them a grand Capitaine (of mischeef) whom -they innoble with the title of my Lorde of Misserule, and hym they -crown with great solemnitie, and adopt for their kyng. This kyng -anoynted, chuseth for the twentie, fourtie, threescore, or a hundred -lustie guttes like hymself, to waite uppon his lordely majestie, and -to guarde his noble persone. Then every one of these his menne he -investeth with his liveries of greene, yellowe or some other light -wanton colour. And as though that were not (baudie) gaudy enough I -should saie, they bedecke themselves with scarffes, ribons and laces, -hanged all over with golde rynges, precious stones and other jewelles: -this doen, they tye about either legge twentie or fourtie belles with -rich hankercheefes in their handes, and sometymes laied acrosse over -their shoulders and neckes, borrowed for the moste parte of their -pretie Mopsies and loovyng Bessies, for bussyng them in the darcke. -Thus thinges sette in order, they have their hobbie horses, dragons, -and other antiques, together with their baudie pipers, and thunderyng -drommers, to strike up the Deville's Daunce withall" (meaning the -Morris Dance), "then marche these heathen companie towardes the church -and churche yarde, their pipers pipyng, drommers thonderyng, their -stumppes dauncyng, their belles iynglyng, their handkerchefes swyngyng -about their heades like madmen, their hobbie horses and other monsters -skyrmishyng amongst the throng: and in this sorte they goe to the -churche (though the minister bee at praier or preachyng) dauncyng and -swingyng their handkercheefes over their heades, in the churche, like -devilles incarnate, with suche a confused noise that no man can heare -his owne voice. Then the foolishe people, they looke, they stare, they -laugh, they fleere, and mount upon formes and pewes, to see these -goodly pageauntes, solemnized in this sort." - - Quoted by T. K. HERVEY - - -St. Nicholas - -According to Hone's "Ancient Mysteries" Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, -was a saint of great virtue and piety.... The old legend is that the -sons of a rich Asiatic, on their way to Athens for education, were -slain by a robber innkeeper, dismembered, and their parts hidden in -a brine tub. In the morning came the Saint, whose visions had warned -him of the crime, whose authority forced confession, and whose prayers -restored the boys to life. The Salisbury Missal of 1534 contains a -curious engraving of the scene, in which the bodies of the children -are leaping from the brine tub at the Bishop's call even while the -innkeeper at the table above their heads is busily cutting a leg and -foot into pieces small enough for his purposes. - -Ever since, St. Nicholas has been the special saint of the school-boy, -and certain of the customs of montem day at Eton College are said to -have originated in old festivals in his honor. - -St. Nicholas is the grand patron of the children of France, to whom -he brings bonbons for the good, but a cane for the naughty child. In -Germany he acts as an advance courier examining into the conduct of the -children, distributes goodies and promises to those with good records -a further reward which the Christ Child brings at Christmas time. But -his own peculiar celebration takes place in a tiny seaport of southern -Italy where it is curiously interwoven with ancient usages possibly -remaining from some worship of Neptune. - -On St. Nicholas's Day, the 6th of December, the sailors of the port -take the saint's image from the beautiful church of St. Nicholas and -with a long procession of boats carry it far out to sea. Returning with -it at nightfall they are met by bonfires, torches, all the townspeople, -and hundreds of quaintly dressed pilgrims, who welcome the returning -saint with songs and carry him to visit one shrine after another, -before returning him to the custody of the canons. - -W. S. Walsh quotes a writer in Chambers' "Book of Days" as saying: -"Through the native rock which formes the tomb of the saint, water -constantly exudes, which is collected by the canons on a sponge -attached to a reed, squeezed into bottles and sold to pilgrims as a -miraculous specific under the name of the "manna of St. Nicholas." - - -An Old Saint in a New World - -While Catholicism prevailed, St. Nicholas was everywhere the children's -saint. In Holland, where his personality was modified by memories of -Woden, god of the elements and the harvest, he had a peculiar hold on -popular affection which persisted into Protestant times. The children -of the Dutch still believe that St. Nicholas brings the gifts that -they always get on the eve of his titular day, December 6. In New -Amsterdam this day was one of the five chief feastdays of the year. -After New Orange became New York the characteristic traits of the Dutch -children's festival were transferred to the near-by Christmas festival -which was English as well as Dutch. It cannot now be said when the -change began or when it was firmly established. It is known, indeed, -that by the middle of the eighteenth century St. Nicholas Day had -been dropped from the list of official holidays which, religious and -patriotic together, then numbered twenty-seven. But, on the other hand, -more than one memoir and book of reminiscences says that as late as the -middle of the nineteenth century some conservative old Dutch families -still celebrated the true St. Nicholas Day in their homes in the true -old fashion, then bestowing the children's annual meed of gifts. Nor -is any light thrown on the question by certain entries in a local -newspaper, _Rivington's Gazetteer_, dated in December, 1773 and 1774, -and referring to celebrations of "the anniversary of St. Nicholas, -otherwise called Santa Claus," for they speak of social meetings of -the "sons of that ancient saint" in which children can hardly have -participated, and they indicate days which were neither Christmas Day -nor the true St. Nicholas Day. - -It is clear, however, that on Manhattan by a gradual consolidation -of the two old festivals Christmas became pre-eminently a children's -festival presided over by the children's saint whose modern name, Santa -Claus, is a variant of the Dutch St. Niclaes or San Claas. In all -European countries Christmas still means simply the day of Christ's -nativity; for the "Old Christmas" whom we meet in English ballads of -earlier times, the "Father Christmas" of Charles Dickens, and the -"Père Noël" of the French are abstractly mythical figures in no way -related to St. Nicholas. But anywhere in our America the domestic -observance of Christmas centres around Santa Claus with his burden -of gifts. The stockings that our children hang on Christmas Eve were -once the shoes that the children of Amsterdam and New Amsterdam set in -the chimney corners on the eve of December 6; and the reindeer whose -hoofs our children hear represent the horse, descended from Woden's -horse Sleipner, upon whose back St. Nicholas still makes his rounds in -Holland. The Christmas-tree is not Dutch but German; about the middle -of the nineteenth century we acquired it from our German immigrants. -But even this the American child accepts at the hands of Santa Claus, -not of the Christ Child as does the little German. "Kriss Kringle," -it may be added, a name now often mistakenly used as though it were a -synonym of Santa Claus, is a corruption of the German Christkindlein -(Christ Child). - - MRS. SCHUYLER VAN RENSSELAER - From the _History of the City of New York_ - - -St. Thomas - -Another of the Saints of the holiday season is doubting Thomas, whose -festival appropriately comes on Dec. 21, just when the child mind is -almost ready to doubt the efficacy of all those letters to Santa Claus, -and has more than doubts whether conduct has been so perfect as to -warrant hope for the Christmas stocking. - -St. Thomas seems to have remained a doubter to the end, for in the -cathedral of Prato is shown the girdle of the "Madonnadella Cintola"; -her ascension into heaven took place when Thomas was not with his -brother apostles, whose account of the miracle he refused to believe; -whereon the indignant Madonna threw her girdle back to him from heaven -as evidence,--or so the legend reads,--with the girdle to prove it. - -His emblem as an apostle is a builder's rule or square; possibly -associated with that other legend of the king of the Indies who ordered -the saint to build him a magnificent palace. On the return of the king -and his discovery that the money for this building had all been given -to the poor, the saint was thrown into a dungeon. Before worse befel, -the king died and four days later appeared to his heir with an account -of the splendid palace of gold and precious stones built for him in -heaven by the charities of the saint on earth. - - W. P. R. - - -Kriss Kringle - - Just as the moon was fading - Amid her misty rings, - And every stocking was stuffed - With childhood's precious things, - - Old Kriss Kringle looked round, - And saw on the elm-tree bough, - High-hung, an oriole's nest, - Silent and empty now. - - "Quite like a stocking," he laughed, - "Pinned up there on the tree! - Little I thought the birds - Expected a present from me!" - - Then old Kriss Kringle, who loves - A joke as well as the best, - Dropped a handful of flakes - In the oriole's empty nest. - - THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH - - _By permission of the Houghton Mifflin Company_ - - -Il Santissimo Bambino - -"Il Santissimo Bambino," of the _Ara Cœli_ in Rome, smiles placidly -with the gravity of a sphinx on all alike. Wee little folk before it -clasp dimpled hands and lispingly recite their speeches of praise. -Older folk lift up a prayer for the safe return of friends afar; -sometimes, as a concession to the faithful--at a price--it is driven -out in a bannered coach to bless the sick. If the patient is to live, -the image will turn red; if he is to die, it will turn pale. Should its -attendant monks by chance forget to return it to the gorgeous manger of -the Franciscan church to which it belongs, perchance it will return of -its own will, borne by no human hands, while all the bells of churches -and convents are set a-swaying by the touch of angel hosts--or so the -Roman peasants say. - -In England similar images have been used in the service which follows -the midnight mass of Christmas Eve; so soon as the Host is safely -returned to its receptacle there is disclosed to the view of the -reverently adoring monks the tiny waxen doll, elaborately swathed yet -so as to leave visible the pink, expressionless face, and half hidden -hands and feet. The officiating priest lifts the image and facing the -waiting monks holds it reverently while in circling procession, one -after another, each bends for a moment to kiss the tiny figure on face -or hands, crosses himself and passes on. The ceremony is one to be -seen only among the Trappist monks and only at this one service of the -Christmas season. - - W. P. R. - - -The Christ Child - -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. - - -The April Baby is Thankful - -December 27th.--It is the fashion, I believe, to regard Christmas as a -bore of rather a gross description, and as a time when you are invited -to overeat yourself, and pretend to be merry without just cause. As a -matter of fact, it is one of the prettiest and most poetic institutions -possible, if observed in the proper manner, and after having been more -or less unpleasant to everybody for a whole year, it is a blessing to -be forced on that one day to be amiable, and it is certainly delightful -to be able to give presents without being haunted by the conviction -that you are spoiling the recipient, and will suffer for it afterward. -Servants are only big children, and are made just as happy as children -by little presents and nice things to eat, and, for days beforehand, -every time the three babies go into the garden they expect to meet the -Christ Child with His arms full of gifts. They firmly believe that it -is thus their presents are brought, and it is such a charming idea that -Christmas would be worth celebrating for its sake alone. - -As great secrecy is observed, the preparations devolve entirely on me, -and it is not very easy work, with so many people in our own house and -on each of the farms, and all the children, big and little, expecting -their share of happiness. The library is uninhabitable for several days -before and after, as it is there that we have the trees and presents. -All down one side are the trees, and the other three sides are lined -with tables, a separate one for each person in the house. When the -trees are lighted, and stand in their radiance shining down on the -happy faces, I forget all the trouble it has been, and the number of -times I have had to run up and down stairs, and the various aches in -head and feet, and enjoy myself as much as anybody. First the June baby -is ushered in, then the others and ourselves according to age, then -the servants, then come the head inspector and his family, and other -inspectors from the different farms, the mamsells, the bookkeepers and -secretaries, and then all the children, troops and troops of them--the -big ones leading the little ones by the hand and carrying the babies in -their arms, and the mothers peeping round the door. As many as can get -in stand in front of the trees, and sing two or three carols; then they -are given their presents, and go off triumphantly, making room for the -next batch. My three babies sang lustily too, whether they happened to -know what was being sung or not. They had on white dresses in honour -of the occasion, and the June baby was even arrayed in a low-necked -and short-sleeved garment, after the manner of Teutonic infants, -whatever the state of the thermometer. Her arms are like miniature -prize-fighter's arms--I never saw such things; they are the pride and -joy of her little nurse, who had tied them up with blue ribbons, and -kept on kissing them. I shall certainly not be able to take her to -balls when she grows up, if she goes on having arms like that. - -When they came to say good-night, they were all very pale and subdued. -The April baby had an exhausted-looking Japanese doll with her, which -she said she was taking to bed, not because she liked him, but because -she was so sorry for him, he seemed so very tired. They kissed me -absently, and went away, only the April baby glancing at the trees as -she passed and making them a curtesy. - -"Good-bye, trees," I heard her say; and then she made the Japanese doll -bow to them, which he did, in a very languid and blasé fashion. "You'll -never see such trees again," she told him, giving him a vindictive -shake, "for you'll be brokened long before next time." - -She went out, but came back as though she had forgotten something. - -"Thank the Christkind so much, Mummy, won't you, for all the lovely -things He brought us. I suppose you're writing to Him now, isn't you?" - - From _Elizabeth and her German Garden_ - -[Illustration: THE ARRIVAL OF THE SHEPHERDS. _Lerolle._] - - -Good King Wenceslas - - Good King Wenceslas looked out, - On the Feast of Stephen, - When the snow lay round about, - Deep, and crisp, and even: - - Brightly shone the moon that night, - Though the frost was cruel, - When a poor man came in sight, - Gath'ring winter fuel. - - "Hither, page, and stand by me, - If thou know'st it, telling, - Yonder peasant, who is he? - Where and what his dwelling?" - - "Sire, he lives a good league hence, - Underneath the mountain; - Right against the forest fence, - By St. Agnes' fountain." - - "Bring me flesh, and bring me wine, - Bring me pine logs hither; - Thou and I will see him dine, - When we bear them thither." - - Page and monarch forth they went, - Forth they went together; - Through the rude wind's wild lament, - And the bitter weather. - - "Sire, the night is darker now, - And the wind blows stronger; - Fails my heart, I know not how, - I can go no longer." - - "Mark my footsteps, good my page! - Tread thou in them boldly; - Thou shalt find the winter's rage - Freeze thy blood less coldly." - - In his master's steps he trod, - Where the snow lay dinted; - Heat was in the very sod - Which the saint had printed. - - Therefore, Christian men, be sure, - Wealth or rank possessing, - Ye who now will bless the poor, - Shall yourselves find blessing. - - Version by JOHN MASON NEALE - - -Jean Valjean plays the Christmas Saint - -As for the traveller, he had deposited his cudgel and his bundle in a -corner. The landlord once gone, he threw himself into an arm-chair and -remained for some time buried in thought. Then he removed his shoes, -took one of the two candles, blew out the other, opened the door, and -quitted the room, gazing about him like a person who is in search of -something. He traversed a corridor and came upon a staircase. There -he heard a very faint and gentle sound like the breathing of a child. -He followed this sound, and came to a sort of triangular recess built -under the staircase, or rather formed by the staircase itself. This -recess was nothing else than the space under the steps. There, in the -midst of all sorts of old papers and potsherds, among dust and spiders' -webs, was a bed--if one can call by the name of bed a straw pallet so -full of holes as to display the straw, and a coverlet so tattered as to -show the pallet. No sheets. This was placed on the floor. - -In this bed Cosette was sleeping. - -The man approached and gazed down upon her. - -Cosette was in a profound sleep; she was fully dressed. In the winter -she did not undress, in order that she might not be so cold. - -Against her breast was pressed the doll, whose large eyes, wide open, -glittered in the dark. From time to time she gave vent to a deep sigh -as though she were on the point of waking, and she strained the doll -almost convulsively in her arms. Beside her bed there was only one of -her wooden shoes. - -A door which stood open near Cosette's pallet permitted a view of a -rather large, dark room. The stranger stepped into it. At the further -extremity, through a glass door, he saw two small, very white beds. -They belonged to Éponine and Azelma. Behind these beds, and half -hidden, stood an uncurtained wicker cradle, in which the little boy who -had cried all the evening lay asleep. - -The stranger conjectured that this chamber connected with that of the -Thénardier pair. He was on the point of retreating when his eye fell -upon the fireplace--one of those vast tavern chimneys where there is -always so little fire when there is any fire at all, and which are -so cold to look at. There was no fire in this one, there was not even -ashes; but there was something which attracted the stranger's gaze, -nevertheless. It was two tiny children's shoes, coquettish in shape and -unequal in size. The traveller recalled the graceful and immemorial -custom in accordance with which children place their shoes in the -chimney on Christmas eve, there to await in the darkness some sparkling -gift from their good fairy. Éponine and Azelma had taken care not to -omit this, and each of them had set one of her shoes on the hearth. - -The traveller bent over them. - -The fairy, that is to say, their mother, had already paid her visit, -and in each he saw a brand-new and shining ten-sou piece. - -The man straightened himself up, and was on the point of withdrawing, -when far in, in the darkest corner of the hearth, he caught sight -of another object. He looked at it, and recognized a wooden shoe, a -frightful shoe of the coarsest description, half dilapidated and all -covered with ashes and dried mud. It was Cosette's sabot. Cosette, with -that touching trust of childhood, which can always be deceived yet -never discouraged, had placed her shoe on the hearth-stone also. - -Hope in a child who has never known anything but despair is a sweet and -touching thing. - -There was nothing in this wooden shoe. - -The stranger fumbled in his waistcoat, bent over and placed a louis -d'or in Cosette's shoe. - -Then he regained his own chamber with the stealthy tread of a wolf. - - VICTOR HUGO in _Les Miserables_ - - -Saint Brandan - - Saint Brandan sails the northern main; - The brotherhoods of saints are glad. - He greets them once, he sails again; - So late! such storms! The saint is mad! - - He heard, across the howling seas, - Chime convent-bells on wintry nights; - He saw, on spray-swept Hebrides, - Twinkle the monastery-lights; - - But north, still north, Saint Brandan steered; - And now no bells, no convents more! - The hurtling Polar lights are neared, - The sea without a human shore. - - At last (it was the Christmas-night; - Stars shone after a day of storm) - He sees float past an iceberg white, - And on it--Christ!--a living form. - - That furtive mien, that scowling eye, - Of hair that red and tufted fell, - It is--oh, where shall Brandan fly?-- - The traitor Judas, out of hell! - - Palsied with terror, Brandan sate; - The moon was bright, the iceberg near. - He hears a voice sigh humbly, "Wait! - By high permission I am here. - - "One moment wait, thou holy man! - On earth my crime, my death, they knew; - My name is under all men's ban: - Ah! tell them of my respite too. - - "Tell them, one blessed Christmas-night - (It was the first after I came, - Breathing self-murder, frenzy, spite, - To rue my guilt in endless flame),-- - - "I felt, as I in torment lay - 'Mid the souls plagued by heavenly power, - An angel touch mine arm, and say,-- - 'Go hence, and cool thyself an hour!' - - "'Ah! whence this mercy, Lord?' I said. - 'The leper recollect,' said he, - 'Who asked the passers-by for aid, - In Joppa, and thy charity.' - - "Then I remembered how I went, - In Joppa, through the public street, - One morn when the sirocco spent - Its storms of dust with burning heat; - - "And in the street a leper sate, - Shivering with fever, naked, old; - Sand raked his sores from heel to pate, - The hot wind fevered him fivefold. - - "He gazed upon me as I passed, - And murmured, 'Help me, or I die!' - To the poor wretch my cloak I cast, - Saw him look eased, and hurried by. - - * * * * * - - "Once every year, when carols wake, - On earth, the Christmas-night's repose, - Arising from the sinner's lake, - I journey to these healing snows. - - "I stanch with ice my burning breast, - With silence balm my whirling brain. - O Brandan! to this hour of rest, - That Joppan leper's ease was pain." - - Tears started to Saint Brandan's eyes; - He bowed his head, he breathed a prayer, - Then looked--and lo, the frosty skies! - The iceberg, and no Judas there! - - MATTHEW ARNOLD - - -St. Stephen's, or Boxing Day - -In old England St. Stephen's Day is chiefly celebrated under the -name of Boxing Day,--not for pugilistic reasons, but because on that -day it was the custom for persons in the humbler walks of life to go -the rounds with a Christmas-box and solicit money from patrons and -employers. Hence the phrase Christmas-box came to signify gifts made at -this season to children or inferiors, even after the boxes themselves -had gone out of use. This custom was of heathen origin and carries us -back to the Roman Paganalia when earthen boxes in which money was -slipped through a hole were hung up to receive contributions at these -rural festivals. - -Aubrey in his "Wiltshire Collections" describes a _trouvaille_ of Roman -relics: "Among the rest was an earthen pot of the color of a crucible, -and of the shape of a Prentice's Christmas-box with a slit in it, -containing about a quart which was near full of money. This pot I gave -to the Repository of the Royal Society at Gresham College." - -Of the Prentice's Christmas-box, a recognized institution of the -seventeenth century, several specimens are preserved,--small and wide -bottles of thin clay from three to four inches in height, surrounded by -imitation stoppers covered with a green baize. On one side is a slit -for the introduction of money; the box must be broken before the money -can be extracted. - - W. P. R. - - -St. Basil in Trikkola - -Trikkola is very Turkish, having only been in Greek hands for eight -years; but though you see mosques and latticed windows at every turn, -there is not a Greek left; when his rule is over the Mussulman packs -his luggage; he will not live subject to the infidel. It is very -squalid indeed, and down the bazaar ran an open drain; but nevertheless -the walk by the river is pretty and towards evening women came down -to the stream to wash and fetch home water in quaint round bottles. I -think one of the most marked distinctions between Turk and Greek is -whitewash. Greeks love whitewash; houses, churches, public buildings -are excessively clean outside, and promise what the interior fails to -fulfill. This is especially remarkable at Trikkola, where the brown mud -houses of Turkish days are being rapidly converted into white Greek -ones. - -St. Basil's Eve--that is to say the Greek New Year's Eve--is a very -marked day in the period of the twelve days, and one on which all make -merry. The squalid streets of Trikkola even looked bright as bands -of gaily dressed children, nay, even grown-up young men, went round -singing the Kalends songs--Greek Kalends that is to say, which though -it is twelve days later than ours came at last. And on this the eve -of the Kalends these bands paraded the streets, each carrying a long -pole to the top of which was tied a piece of brushwood, within which -was concealed a bell, and to which were tied many scraps of colored -ribbon. At each house the singers stopped. The inhabitants came out to -greet them and offer them refreshments,--figs, nuts, eggs and other -food,--which were stowed away by one of the band who carried a basket. -Their songs to our ears were exceedingly ugly, long chanted stories. I -asked a priest whose acquaintance I had made to copy down one of them, -of which the following is a rough translation:-- - - From Cæsarea came the holy Basil; - Ink and paper in his hands he held. - Cried the crowd who saw him coming, - "Teach us letters, dear St. Basil." - His rod he left them for instruction-- - His rod which buds with verdant leaves, - On which the partridges sit singing - And the swallows make their nests. - -Jangle went the bell in the brushwood--"the thicket" as they call -it--and out came the housewife when the singing was over, her hands -full of homely gifts, in return for which she was presented with -one of the silk ribbons from the trophy. This she will keep for the -whole of the ensuing year, for it will bring her good luck. And after -many good wishes for the coming year the troupe moved on to another -house.... It seems that this is the most favorite Greek method of -celebrating a festive season. The people in no way resent these -constant visitors and claims on their hospitality; nay, rather they -would be deeply hurt if the bands of children passed them by. - - J. THEODORE BENT - - - - -III - -CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS - -[Illustration: CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS] - - The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ - Folk-lore of Christmas Tide - Hunting the Wren - The Presepio - Hodening in Kent - Origin of the Christmas Tree - Origin of the Christmas Card - The Yule Clog - Come bring with a Noise - Shoe or Stocking - Jule-Nissen - "Lame Needles" in Eubœa - "Who Rides behind the Bells?" - Guests at Yule - -[Illustration] - - Some sayes, that ever 'gainst that Season comes - Wherein our Saviours Birth is celebrated, - The Bird of Dawning singeth all night long: - And then (they say) no Spirit can walke abroad, - The nights are wholesome, then no Planets strike, - No Faiery talkes, nor Witch hath power to Charme: - So hallowed, and so gracious is the time. - - WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE - - -The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ - -When the world had endured five thousand and nine hundred years, after -Eusebius the holy saint, Octavian the Emperor commanded that all the -world should be described, so that he might know how many cities, how -many towns, and how many persons he had in all the universal world. -Then was so great peace in the earth that all the world was obedient to -him. And therefore our Lord would be born in that time, that it should -be known that he brought peace from heaven. And this Emperor commanded -that every man should go into the towns, cities or villages from whence -they were of, and should bring with him a penny in acknowledgment that -he was subject to the Empire of Rome. And by so many pence as should -be found received, should be known the number of the persons. Joseph, -which was then of the lineage of David, and dwelleth in Nazareth, went -into the city of Bethlehem, and led with him the Virgin Mary his wife. -And when they were come thither, because the hostelries were all taken -up, they were constrained to be without in a common place where all -people went. And there was a stable for an ass that he brought with -him, and for an ox. In that night our Blessed Lady and Mother of God -was delivered of our Blessed Saviour upon the hay that lay in the rack. -At which nativity our Lord shewed many marvels. For because that the -world was in so great peace, the Romans had done made a temple which -was named the Temple of Peace, in which they counselled with Apollo to -know how long it should stand and endure. Apollo answered to them, -that it should stand as long till a maid had brought forth and borne a -child. And therefore they did do write on the portal of the Temple: Lo! -this is the temple of peace that ever shall endure. For they supposed -well that a maid might never bear ne bring forth a child. This temple -that same time that our Lady was delivered and our Lord born, overthrew -and fell all down. Of which christian men afterward made in the same -place a church of our Lady which is called Sancta Maria Rotunda, that -is to say, the Church of Saint Mary the Round. Also the same night, -as recordeth Innocent the third, which was Pope, there sprang and -sourded in Rome a well or a fountain, and ran largely all that night -and all that day unto the river of Rome called Tiber. Also after that, -recordeth S. John Chrysostom, the three kings were in this night in -their orisons and prayers upon a mountain, when a star appeared by -them which had the form of a right fair child, which had a cross in -his forehead, which said to these three kings that they should go to -Jerusalem, and there they should find the son of the Virgin, God and -Man, which then was born. Also there appeared in the orient three suns, -which little and little assembled together, and were all on one. As it -is signified to us that these three things are the Godhead, the soul, -and the body, which been in three natures assembled in one person. Also -Octavian the Emperor, like as Innocent recordeth, that he was much -desired of his council and of his people, that he should do men worship -him as God. For never had there been before him so great a master and -lord of the world as he was. Then the Emperor sent for a prophetess -named Sibyl, for to demand of her if there were any so great and like -him in the earth, or if any should come after him. Thus at the hour of -mid-day she beheld the heaven, and saw a circle of gold about the sun, -and in the middle of the circle a maid holding a child in her arms. -Then she called the Emperor and shewed it him. When Octavian saw that -he marvelled over much, whereof Sibyl said to him: Hic puer major te -est, ipsum adora. This child is greater lord than thou art, worship -him. Then when the Emperor understood that this child was greater lord -than he was, he would not be worshipped as God, but worshipped this -child that should be born. Wherefore the christian men made a church -of the same chamber of the Emperor, and named it Ara cœli. After this -it happed on a night as a great master which is of great authority in -Scripture, which is named Bartholemew, recordeth that the Rod of Engadi -which is by Jerusalem, which beareth balm, flowered this night and bare -fruit, and gave liquor of balm. After this came the angel and appeared -to the shepherds that kept their sheep, and said to them: I announce -and shew to you a great joy, for the Saviour of the world is in this -night born, in the city of Bethlehem, there may ye find him wrapt in -clouts. And anon, as the angel had said this, a great multitude of -angels appeared with him, and began to sing: Honour, glory and health -be to God on high, and in the earth peace to men of goodwill. Then said -the shepherds, let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing. And when they -came they found like as the angel had said. In this time Octavian made -to cut and enlarge the ways and quitted the Romans of all the debts -that they owed to him. This feast of Nativity of our Lord is one of -the greatest feasts of all the year, and for to tell all the miracles -that our Lord hath shewed, it should contain a whole book; but at this -time I shall leave and pass over save one thing that I have heard once -preached of a worshipful doctor, that what person being in clean life -desire on this day a boon of God, as far as it is rightful and good -for him, our Lord at the reverence of this blessed high feast of his -Nativity will grant it to him. - - From _The Golden Legend_ - - -Folk-Lore of Christmas Tide - -Scottish folk-lore has it that Christ was born "at the hour of midnight -on Christmas Eve," and that the miracle of turning water into wine -was performed by Him at the same hour. There is a belief current in -some parts of Germany that "between eleven and twelve the night before -Christmas water turns to wine"; in other districts, as at Bielefeld, it -is on Christmas night that this change is thought to take place. - -This hour is also auspicious for many actions, and in some sections of -Germany it was thought that if one would go to the cross-roads between -eleven and twelve on Christmas Day, and listen, he "would hear what -most concerns him in the coming year." Another belief is that "if one -walks into the winter-corn on Holy Christmas Eve, he will hear all that -will happen in the village that year." - -Christmas Eve or Christmas is the time when the oracles of the folk -are in the best working-order, especially the many processes by which -maidens are wont to discover the colour of their lover's hair, the -beauty of his face and form, his trade and occupation, whether they -shall marry or not, and the like. - -The same season is most auspicious for certain ceremonies and practices -(transferred to it from the heathen antiquity) of the peasantry of -Europe in relation to agriculture and allied industries. Among those -noted by Grimm are the following:-- - -On Christmas Eve thrash the garden with a flail, with only your shirt -on, and the grass will grow well next year. - -Tie wet strawbands around the orchard trees on Christmas Eve and it -will make them fruitful. - -On Christmas Eve put a stone on every tree, and they will bear the more. - -Beat the trees on Christmas night, and they will bear more fruit. - -In Herefordshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall, in England, the farmers and -peasantry "salute the apple-trees on Christmas Eve," and in Sussex they -used to "worsle," _i.e._ "wassail," the apple-trees and chant verses to -them in somewhat of the primitive fashion. - -Some other curious items of Christmas folk-lore are the following, -current chiefly in Germany. - -If after a Christmas dinner you shake out the tablecloth over the bare -ground under the open sky, crumbwort will grow on the spot. - -If on Christmas Day, or Christmas Eve, you hang a wash-clout on a -hedge, and then groom the horses with it, they will grow fat. - -As often as the cock crows on Christmas Eve, the quarter of corn will -be as dear. - -If a dog howls the night before Christmas, it will go mad within the -year. - -If the light is let go out on Christmas Eve, some one in the house will -die. - -When lights are brought in on Christmas Eve, if any one's shadow has -no head, he will die within a year; if half a head, in the second -half-year. - -If a hoop comes off a cask on Christmas Eve, some one in the house will -die that year. - -If on Christmas Eve you make a little heap of salt on the table, and it -melts over night, you will die the next year; if, in the morning, it -remain undiminished, you will live. - -If you wear something sewed with thread spun on Christmas Eve, no -vermin will stick to you. - -If a shirt be spun, woven, and sewed by a pure, chaste maiden on -Christmas Day, it will be proof against lead or steel. - -If you are born at sermon-time on Christmas morning, you can see -spirits. - -If you burn elder on Christmas Eve, you will have revealed to you all -the witches and sorcerers of the neighbourhood. - -If you steal hay the night before Christmas, and give the cattle some, -they thrive, and you are not caught in any future thefts. - -If you steal anything at Christmas without being caught, you can steal -safely for a year. - -If you eat no beans on Christmas Eve, you will become an ass. - -If you eat a raw egg, fasting, on Christmas morning, you can carry -heavy weights. - -The crumbs saved up on three Christmas Eves are good to give as physic -to one who is disappointed. - -It is unlucky to carry anything forth from the house on Christmas -morning until something has been brought in. - -It is unlucky to give a neighbour a live coal to kindle a fire with on -Christmas morning. - -If the fire burns brightly on Christmas morning, it betokens prosperity -during the year; if it smoulders, adversity. - -These, and many other practices, ceremonies, beliefs, and -superstitions, which may be read in Grimm, Gregor, Henderson, De -Gubernatis, Ortwein, Tilte, and others who have written of Christmas, -show the importance attached in the folk-mind to the time of the -birth of Christ, and how around it as a centre have fixed themselves -hundreds of the rites and solemnities of passing heathendom, with its -recognition of the kinship of all nature, out of which grew astrology, -magic, and other pseudo-sciences. - - Collected by A. F. CHAMBERLAIN - - -Christmas succeeds the Saturnalia, the same time, the same number of -Holy-days; then the Master waited upon the Servant like the Lord of -Misrule. - -Our Meats and our Sports, much of them, have Relation to Church-works. -The Coffin of our Christmas-Pies, in shape long, is in Imitation of the -Cratch; our choosing Kings and Queens on Twelfth-Night, hath reference -to the three Kings. So likewise our eating of Fritters, whipping of -Tops, roasting of Herrings, Jack of Lents, etc., they were all in -imitation of Church-works, Emblems of Martyrdom. - - _The Table-Talk of John Selden_ - - -Hunting the Wren - -The custom, which is called "hunting the wren," is generally practised -by the peasantry of the south of Ireland on St. Stephen's Day. It bears -a close resemblance to the Manx proceedings described by Waldron,--as -taking place however on a different day. "On the 24th of December," -says that writer, in his account of the Isle of Man, "towards evening -the servants in general have a holiday; they go not to bed all night, -but ramble about till the bells ring in all the churches, which is at -twelve o'clock. Prayers being over, they go to hunt the wren; and after -having found one of these poor birds, they kill her and lay her on a -bier with the utmost solemnity, bringing her to the parish church and -burying her with a whimsical kind of solemnity, singing dirges over her -in the Manx language, which they call her knell; after which Christmas -begins." - -The Wren-boys in Ireland, who are also called Droleens, go from house -to house for the purpose of levying contributions, carrying one or more -of these birds in the midst of a bush of holly, gaily decorated with -colored ribbons; which birds they have, like the Manx mummers, employed -their morning in killing. The following is their song; of which they -deliver themselves in most monotonous music:-- - - "The wren, the wren, the king of all birds, - St. Stephen's-day was caught in the furze, - Although he is little, his family's great. - I pray you, good landlady, give us a treat. - - "My box would speak, if it had but a tongue, - And two or three shillings would do it no wrong; - Sing holly, sing ivy--sing ivy, sing holly, - A drop just to drink, it would drown melancholy. - - "And if you draw it of the best, - I hope, in heaven your soul will rest; - But if you draw it of the small, - It won't agree with these Wren-boys at all." - -If an immediate acknowledgment, either in money or drink, is not made -in return for the civility of their visit, some such nonsensical verses -as the following are added:-- - - "Last Christmas-day, I turned the spit, - I burned my fingers (I feel it yet), - A cock sparrow flew over the table, - The dish began to fight with the ladle. - - "The spit got up like a naked man, - And swore he'd fight with the dripping pan; - The pan got up and cocked his tail, - And swore he'd send them all to jail." - -The story told to account for the title of "king of all birds," here -given to the wren, is a curious sample of Irish ingenuity, and is thus -stated in the clever "Tales of the Munster Festivals," by an Irish -servant in answer to his master's inquiry:-- - -"Saint Stephen! why, what the mischief, I ask you again, have I to do -with Saint Stephen?" - -"Nothen, sure, sir, only this being his day, when all the boys o' the -place go about that way with the wran, the king of all birds, sir, as -they say (bekays wanst when all the birds wanted to choose a king, -and they said they'd have the bird that would fly highest, the aigle -flew higher than any of 'em, till at last when he couldn't fly an inch -higher, a little rogue of a wran that was a-hide under his wing took -a fly above him a piece, and was crowned king, of the aigle an' all, -sir), tied in the middle o' the holly that way you see, sir, by the -leg, that is. An old custom, sir." - -Vainly have we endeavored to arrive at the probable origin of hunting -and killing these little birds upon this day. The tradition commonly -related is by no means satisfactory. It is said that a Danish army -would have been surprised and destroyed by some Irish troops, had not -a wren given the alarm by pecking at some crumbs upon a drum-head,--the -remains of the sleeping drummer's supper; which roused him, when he -instantly beat to arms. And that from this circumstance the wren became -an object of hatred to the Irish. - - T. K. HERVEY - - -The Presepio - -After Christmas Day, during the remainder of December, there is a -Presepio, or representation of the manger in which our Savior was laid, -to be seen in many of the churches at Rome. That of the Ara Cœli is -best worth seeing; which church occupies the site of the temple of -Jupiter, and is adorned with some of its beautiful pillars. - -On entering we found daylight completely excluded from the church; and -until we advanced we did not perceive the artificial light, which was -so managed as to stream in fluctuating rays from intervening silvery -clouds, and shed a radiance over the lovely babe and bending mother, -who in a most graceful attitude lightly holds up the drapery which half -conceals her sleeping infant from the bystanders. He lies in richly -embroidered swaddling clothes, and his person as well as that of His -virgin mother, is ornamented with diamonds and other precious stones; -for which purpose we are informed the princesses and ladies of high -rank lend their jewels. Groups of cattle grazing, peasantry engaged -in different occupations, and other objects enliven the picturesque -scenery; every living creature in the group, with eyes directed towards -the Presepio, falls prostrate in adoration. - - From HONE'S _Year Book_ - - -Hodening in Kent - -When I was a lad, about forty-five years since, it was always the -custom on Christmas Eve, with the male farm-servants from every farm -in our parish, to go round in the evening from house to house with -the hodening horse, which consisted of the imitation of a horse's -head made of wood, life size, fixed on a stick about the length of a -broom handle. The lower jaw of the head was made to open with hinges; -a hole was made through the roof of the mouth, then another through -the forehead coming out by the throat; pulled through this was passed -a cord attached at the lower jaw, which, when pulled by the cord at -the throat, caused it to close and open; on the lower jaw large headed -hobnails were driven in to form the teeth. The strongest of the lads -was selected for the horse; he stooped and made as long a back as he -could, supporting himself by the stick carrying the head; then he was -covered with a horse-cloth, and one of his companions mounted his back. -The horse had a bridle and reins. Then commenced the kicking, rearing, -jumping, etc., and the banging together of the teeth. - -There was no singing by the accompanying paraders. They simply by -ringing or knocking at the houses on their way summoned the inmates to -the doors and begged a gratuity. I have seen some of the wooden heads -carved out quite hollow in the throat part, and two holes bored through -the forehead to form the eyes. The lad who played the horse would hold -a lighted candle in the hollow, and you can imagine how horrible it was -to any one who opened the door to see such a thing close to his eyes. - - A contributor to the _Church Times_, Jan. 23, 1891 - - -Origin of the Christmas Tree - -A Scandinavian myth of great antiquity speaks of a "service tree" -sprung from the blood-drenched soil where two lovers had been killed by -violence. At certain nights in the Christmas season mysterious lights -were seen flaming in its branches, that no wind could extinguish. - -One tale describes Martin Luther as attempting to explain to his wife -and children the beauty of a snow-covered forest under the glittering -star besprinkled sky. Suddenly an idea suggested itself. He went into -the garden, cut off a little fir tree, dragged it into the nursery, put -some candles on its branches and lighted them. - -"It has been explained," says another authority, "as being derived -from the ancient Egyptian practice of decking houses at the time of -the winter solstice with branches of the date palm--the symbol of life -triumphant over death, and therefore of perennial life in the renewal -of each bounteous year." The Egyptians regarded the date palm as the -emblem not only of immortality, but also of the starlit firmament. - -Some of its traditions may have been strongly influenced by the fact -that about this time the Jews celebrated their Feast of Chanuckah or -Lights, known also as the Feast of Dedication, of which lighted candles -are a feature. In Germany, the name for Christmas Eve is Weihnacht, -the Night of Dedication, while in Greece at about this season the -celebration is called the Feast of Lights. - -As a regular institution, however, it can be traced back only to -the sixteenth century. During the Middle Ages it suddenly appears -in Strassburg; it maintained itself along the Rhine for two hundred -years, when suddenly at the beginning of the nineteenth century the -fashion spread all over Germany, and by fifty years later had conquered -Christendom. - - W. S. WALSH in _Curiosities of Popular Customs_ - (condensed) - - -Origin of the Christmas Card - -The Christmas Card is the legitimate descendant of the "school pieces" -or "Christmas pieces" which were popular from the beginning to the -middle of the nineteenth century. These were sheets of writing-paper -sometimes surrounded with those hideous and elaborate pen flourishes -forming birds, scrolls, etc., so unnaturally dear to the hearts of -writing masters, and sometimes headed with copper-plate engravings, -plain or colored. These were used by school boys at the approach of -holidays for carefully written letters exploiting the progress they had -made in composition and chirography. Charity boys were large purchasers -of these pieces, says one writer, and at Christmas time used to take -them round their parish to show and at the same time solicit a trifle. - -The Christmas Card proper had its tentative origin in 1846. Mr. Joseph -Cundall, a London artist, claims to have issued the first in that year. -It was printed in lithography, colored by hand, and was of the usual -size of a lady's card. - -Not until 1862, however, did the custom obtain any foothold. Then -experiments were made with cards of the size of an ordinary _carte de -visite_, inscribed simply "A Merry Christmas" and "A Happy New Year." -After that came to be added robins and holly branches, embossed -figures and landscapes. "I have the original designs before me now," -wrote "Luke Limner" (John Leighton) to the London _Publishers' -Circular_, Dec. 31, 1883: "they were produced by Goodall & Son. Seeing -a growing want and the great sale obtained abroad, this house produced -(1868) a Little Red Riding Hood, a Hermit and his Cell, and many other -subjects in which snow and the robin played a part." - - W. S. WALSH in _Curiosities of Popular Customs_ - - -The Yule Clog - -Amid the interior forms to be observed, on this evening, by those who -would keep their Christmas after the old orthodox fashion, the first to -be noticed is that of the Yule Clog. This huge block, which, in ancient -times, and consistently with the capacity of its vast receptacle, was -frequently the root of a large tree, it was the practice to introduce -into the house with great ceremony, and to the sound of music. - -In Drake's "Winter Nights" mention is made of the Yule Clog, as "lying, -in ponderous majesty, on the kitchen floor," until "each had sung his -Yule song, standing on its centre,"--ere it was consigned to the flames -that - - "Went roaring up the chimney wide." - -This Yule Clog, according to Herrick, was to be lighted with the brand -of the last year's log, which had been carefully laid aside for the -purpose, and music was to be played during the ceremony of lighting. - -This log appears to have been considered as sanctifying the roof-tree, -and was probably deemed a protection against those evil spirits over -whom this season was in every way a triumph. Accordingly, various -superstitions mingled with the prescribed ceremonials in respect of -it. From the authority already quoted on this subject, we learn that -its virtues were not to be extracted unless it were lighted with clean -hands--a direction, probably, including both a useful household hint to -the domestics, and, it may be, a moral of a higher kind:-- - - "Wash your hands or else the fire - Will not tend to your desire; - Unwash'd hands, ye maidens, know, - Dead the fire though ye blow." - -Around this fire, when duly lighted, the hospitalities of the evening -were dispensed; and as the flames played about it and above it, with -a pleasant song of their own, the song and the tale and the jest went -cheerily round. - - T. K. HERVEY - - -Come bring with a Noise - - Come bring with a noise, - My merry merry boys, - The Christmas log to the firing; - While my good dame, she - Bids ye all be free, - And drink to your heart's desiring. - - With the last year's brand - Light the new block, and - For good success in his spending, - On your psaltries play, - That sweet luck may - Come while the log is a tending. - - Drink now the strong beer, - Cut the white loaf here, - The while the meat is a shredding, - For the rare mince-pies; - And the plums stand by, - To fill the paste that's a kneading. - - ROBERT HERRICK - - -Shoe or Stocking - - In Holland, children set their shoes, - This night, outside the door; - These wooden shoes Knecht Clobes sees, - And fills them from his store. - - But here we hang our stockings up - On handy hook or nail; - And Santa Claus, when all is still, - Will plump them, without fail. - - Speak out, you "Sober-sides," speak out, - And let us hear your views; - Between a stocking and a shoe, - What do you see to choose? - - One instant pauses Sober-sides, - A little sigh to fetch-- - "Well, seems to me a stocking's best, - For wooden shoes won't stretch!" - - EDITH M. THOMAS - -_By permission of Houghton Mifflin Company_ - - -Jule-Nissen - -I do not know how the forty years I have been away have dealt with -"Jule-nissen," the Christmas elf of my childhood in far-off Denmark. He -was pretty old then, gray and bent, and there were signs that his time -was nearly over. So it may be that they have laid him away. I shall -find out when I go over there next time. When I was a boy we never sat -down to our Christmas Eve dinner until a bowl of rice and milk had been -taken up to the attic, where he lived with the martin and its young, -and kept an eye upon the house--saw that everything ran smoothly. I -never met him myself, but I know the house cat must have done so. No -doubt they were well acquainted; for when in the morning I went in for -the bowl, there it was, quite dry and licked clean, and the cat purring -in the corner. So, being there all night, she must have seen and likely -talked with him.... - -The Nisse was of the family, as you see,--very much of it,--and -certainly not to be classed with the cattle. Yet they were his special -concern; he kept them quiet, saw to it, when the stableman forgot, -that they were properly bedded and cleaned and fed. He was very well -known to the hands about the farm, and they said that he looked just -like a little old man, all in gray and with a pointed red night-cap and -long gray beard. He was always civilly treated, as indeed he deserved -to be, but Christmas was his great holiday, when he became part of -it, indeed, and was made much of. So, for that matter, was everything -that lived under the husbandman's roof or within reach of it. Even the -sparrows that burrowed in the straw-thatch and did it no good were not -forgotten. A sheaf of rye was set out in the snow for them on the -Holy Eve, so that on that night at least they should have shelter and -warmth unchallenged, and plenty to eat. At all other times we were -permitted to raid their nests and help ourselves to a sparrow roast, -which was by long odds the greatest treat we had. Thirty or forty of -them, dug out by the light of the stable-lantern and stuffed into Ane's -long stocking, which we had borrowed for a game-bag, made a meal for -the whole family, each sparrow a fat mouthful. Ane was the cook, and -I am very certain that her pot roast of sparrow would pass muster at -any Fifth Avenue restaurant as the finest dish of reed-birds that ever -was. However, at Christmas their sheaf was their sanctuary, and no one -as much as squinted at them. Only last winter, when Christmas found me -stranded in a little Michigan town, wandering disconsolate about the -streets, I came across such a sheaf raised on a pole in a dooryard, and -I knew at once that one of my people lived in that house and kept Yule -in the old way. So I felt as if I were not quite a stranger. - -Blowing in the Yule from the grim old tower that had stood eight -hundred years against the blasts of the North Sea was one of the -customs of the old town that abide, however it fares with the Nisse; -that I know. At sun-up, while yet the people were at breakfast, the -town band climbed the many steep ladders to the top of the tower, and -up there, in fair weather or foul--and sometimes it blew great guns -from the wintry sea--they played four old hymns, one to each corner -of the compass, so that no one was forgotten. They always began with -Luther's sturdy challenge, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," while -down below we listened devoutly. There was something both weird and -beautiful about those far-away strains in the early morning light of -the northern winter, something that was not of earth and that suggested -to my child's imagination the angels' songs on far Judean hills. Even -now, after all these years, the memory of it does that. It could not -have been because the music was so rare, for the band was made up of -small store-keepers and artisans who thus turned an honest penny on -festive occasions. Incongruously enough, I think the official town -mourner, who bade people to funerals, was one of them. It was like -the burghers' guard, the colonel of which--we thought him at least a -general, because of the huge brass sword he trailed when he marched at -the head of his men--was the town tailor, a very small but very martial -man. But whether or no, it was beautiful. I have never heard music -since that so moved me. When the last strain died away, came the big -bells with their deep voices that sang far out over field and heath, -and our Yule was fairly under way. - - JACOB RIIS in _The Old Town_ - -[Illustration: THE BELLS. _Blashfield._] - - -"Lame Needles" in Eubœa - -In the first place, it must be clearly understood that Christmas time -to a Greek is by no means considered as festive; in fact they look upon -the twelve days which intervene between Christmas and Epiphany rather -with abhorrence than otherwise; it is to them the season when ghosts -and hobgoblins are supposed to be most rampant; it is generally cold, -ungenial weather, and the Greeks of to-day, like their ancestors, live -contented only when the warm rays of the life-giving sun scorch them. -They can get up no enthusiasm as we can about yule logs and blazing -fires, for they have nothing to warm themselves with save small -charcoal braziers capable of communicating heat to not more than one -limb at a time; all the festive energies of the race are reserved for -Carnival and Easter-tide, when the warmth of spring enables them once -more to enjoy life out-of-doors--the only one tolerable when you know -what their low dirty houses are like.... - -For a month before Christmas every pious Greek has observed a rigid -fast; consequently the "table" which on that day is spread in every -house produces something akin to festivity. On a small round table was -placed a perfect mountain of maccaroni and cheese--coarse sheep's-milk -cheese which stung the mouth like mustard and left a pungent taste -which tarried therein for days. There were no plates, no forks, -no spoons. What a meal it was indeed, as if it were a contest in -gastronomic activity! I was left far behind in the contest, and great -was my relief when it was removed and dried fruits and nuts took its -place. To drink we had resinated wine--that is to say wine which had -been stored in a keg covered with resin inside, which gives the flavor -so much relished by the Greeks, but which is almost as unpalatable -to an Englishman as beer must be to those who drink it for the first -time. The wine, however, had the effect of loosening the tongues of my -friends, who had been too busy as yet to talk, and they told me many -interesting Christmas tales. - -In the first place the conversation turned on certain spirits called -"lame needles," which every Eubœan woman of low degree will tell you -visit the earth at this season of the year; one lame needle, presumably -the leader, comes on Christmas Eve, and the rest of the tribe put in an -appearance on Christmas Day. They are dreadful creatures to look upon, -and according to my friends, they live in caves whilst on earth, near -which no wise person at this season of the year will venture. - -They subsist, like the Amazons of old, on snakes and lizards, and -sometimes on women, if they are lucky enough to entrap one. - -These demons are only dangerous at night from sunset to cockcrow. When -not engaged in dancing the lame needles wander about, and do any amount -of mischief. It is their custom to enter houses by the chimney, so -every housewife is careful at this season of the year to leave some -embers burning all night, for they dread fire and also crosses, and -it is for this reason that at Christmas time we see so many whitewash -crosses on the cottage doors in Greece.... When Epiphany comes these -lame needles are forced to flee again underground; but before they -go they take a hack at the tree which supports the world, and which -one day they will cut through. In appearance these ugly visitors are -supposed to be goat-footed goblins, far taller than any man; in fact, -I should imagine that they are lineal descendants of the satyrs of old -still haunting their accustomed purlieus.... I will give you a specimen -of one of the stories which my friends told me when I slightly threw -discredit on the above described apparitions. It is not a very lively -one, but will show the character of the Christmas stories which are -current in Greece to-day. - -"A lame needle once overheard two women settling to get up at night -during the season of the twelve days to leaven bread at the house of -one of them. Accordingly he knocked at the door of the woman who was -going to carry her dough to the other's house and pretended to be a -messenger sent to hurry her. - -"Fearing nothing, the silly woman set off with her dough accompanied -by the uncanny messenger. When they had got a little distance the lame -needle turned round and said, 'Stop; I wish to eat you!' Whereat the -woman recognized who he was, and mindful of the fact that lame needles -are very inquisitive, she replied, 'Just wait till I tell you a story.' -It was very long and very interesting, so the first cock crew before -it was finished. 'It is only the black one; go on; I have yet time,' -said the eager lame needle. Then the second cock crew, and he said, 'It -is only the red one; I have nought yet to fear.' Just as the woman had -reached the most thrilling part of her story the third cock crew, 'It -is the white one,' exclaimed the terrified hobgoblin; 'I must be gone.'" - -I am sure this story is believed by the peasants of Eubœa. - - J. THEODORE BENT - - -Who Rides behind the Bells? - -Our shabby drawing-room was ablaze with red candles; and what with -holly red on the walls and the snow banking the casements and bells -jingling up and down the avenue, the sense of Christmas was very real. -For me, Christmas seems always to be just past or else on the way; and -that sixth sense of Christmas being actually Now is thrice desirable. - -On the stroke of nine we two, waiting before the fire, heard Nichola on -the basement stairs; and by the way in which she mounted, with labor -and caution, I knew that she was bringing the punch. We had wished to -have it ready--that harmless steaming punch compounded from my mother's -recipe--when our guests arrived, so that they should first of all hear -the news and drink health to Eunice and Hobart. - -Nichola was splendid in her scarlet merino and that vast cap effect -managed by a starched pillow-case and a bit of string, and over her arm -hung a huge holly wreath for the bowl's brim. When she had deposited -her fragrant burden and laid the wreath in place she stood erect and -looked at us solemnly for a moment, and then her face wrinkled in all -directions and was lighted with her rare puckered smile. - -"Mer--ry Christmas!" she said. - -"Merry Christmas, Nichola!" we cried, and I think that in all her years -with us we had never before heard the words from her lips. - -"_Who_ goes ridin' behind the sleigh-bells to-night?" she asked then -abruptly. - -"Who rides?" I repeated, puzzled. - -"Yes," Nichola said; "this is a night when all folk stay home. -The whole world sits by the fire on Christmas night. An' yet the -sleigh-bells ring like mad. It is not holy." - -Pelleas and I had never thought of that. But there may be something in -it. Who indeed, when all the world keeps hearth-holiday, who is it that -rides abroad on Christmas night behind the bells? - -"Good spirits, perhaps, Nichola," Pelleas said, smiling. - -"I do not doubt it," Nichola declared gravely; "that is not holy -either--to doubt." - -"No," we said, "to doubt good spirits is never holy." - - ZONA GALE in _The Loves of Pelleas and Etarre_ - - -Guests at Yule - - Nöel! Nöel! - Thus sounds each Christmas bell - Across the winter snow. - But what are the little footprints all - That mark the path from the church-yard wall? - These are those of the children waked to-night - From sleep by the Christmas bells and light: - Ring sweetly, chimes! Soft, soft, my rhymes! - Their beds are under the snow. - - Nöel! Nöel! - Carols each Christmas bell. - What are the wraiths of mist - That gather anear the window-pane - Where the winter frost all day has lain? - They are soulless elves, who fain would peer - Within, and laugh at our Christmas cheer: - Ring fleetly, chimes! Swift, swift, my rhymes! - They are made of the mocking mist. - - Nöel! Nöel! - Cease, cease, each Christmas bell! - Under the holly bough, - Where the happy children throng and shout, - What shadows seem to flit about? - Is it the mother, then, who died, - Ere the greens were sere last Christmastide? - Hush, falling chimes! Cease, cease, my rhymes! - The guests are gathered now. - - EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN - -_By permission of Houghton Mifflin Company_ - - - - -IV - -CHRISTMAS CAROLS - -[Illustration] - -CHRISTMAS CAROLS - - "I saw Three Ships" - "Lordings, listen to Our Lay" - The Cherry-Tree Carol - "In Excelsis Gloria" - "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" - The Golden Carol - Caput apri refero resonens laudes domino - "Villagers All, this Frosty Tide" - Holly Song - "Before the Paling of the Stars" - The Minstrels played their Christmas Tune - A Carol from the Old French - "From Far Away we come to you" - A Christmas Carol - A Christmas Carol for Children - -[Illustration: GEORGE WHARTON EDWARDS] - -The First Christmas Carol - -Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which -shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of -David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. - -And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in -swaddling clothes lying in a manger. - -_Chorus_ - - Glory to God in the highest, and on - earth peace, goodwill toward men. - - _St. Luke's Gospel_ - - -I saw Three Ships - - I saw three ships come sailing in, - On Christmas day, on Christmas day; - I saw three ships come sailing in, - On Christmas day in the morning. - - And what was in those ships all three, - On Christmas day, on Christmas day? - And what was in those ships all three, - On Christmas day in the morning? - - The Virgin Mary and Christ were there, - On Christmas day, on Christmas day; - The Virgin Mary and Christ were there, - On Christmas day in the morning. - - Pray, whither sailed those ships all three, - On Christmas day, on Christmas day? - Pray, whither sailed those ships all three, - On Christmas day in the morning? - - O they sailed into Bethlehem, - On Christmas day, on Christmas day; - O they sailed into Bethlehem, - On Christmas day in the morning. - - And all the bells on earth shall ring, - On Christmas day, on Christmas day; - And all the bells on earth shall ring, - On Christmas day in the morning. - - And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing, - On Christmas day, on Christmas day; - And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing, - On Christmas day in the morning. - - And all the souls on earth shall sing, - On Christmas day, on Christmas day; - And all the souls on earth shall sing, - On Christmas day in the morning. - - Then let us all rejoice amain, - On Christmas day, on Christmas day; - Then let us all rejoice amain, - On Christmas day in the morning. - - _Old English Carol_ - - -Lordings, listen to Our Lay - - Lordings, listen to our lay-- - We have come from far away - To seek Christmas; - In this mansion we are told - He his yearly feast doth hold: - 'Tis to day! - _May joy come from God above, - To all those who Christmas love._ - - Lordings, I now tell you true, - Christmas bringeth unto you - Only mirth: - His house he fills with many a dish, - Of bread and meat and also fish, - To grace the day. - _May joy come from God above, - To all those who Christmas love._ - - Lordings, through our army's band - They say--who spends with open hand - Free and fast, - And oft regales his many friends-- - God gives him double what he spends, - To grace the day. - _May joy come from God above, - To all those who Christmas love._ - - Lordings, wicked men eschew, - In them never shall you view - Aught that's good; - Cowards are the rabble rout, - Kick and beat the grumblers out, - To grace the day. - _May joys come from God above, - To all those who Christmas love._ - - Lords, by Christmas and the host - Of this mansion hear my toast-- - Drink it well-- - Each must drain his cup of wine, - And I the first will toss off mine: - Thus I advise, - Here then I bid you all _Wassail_, - Cursed be he who will not say _Drinkhail_. - - _Earliest Existing Carol; Thirteenth Century_ - - -The Cherry-Tree Carol - - As Joseph was a-walking, - He heard an angel sing, - "This night shall be the birth-time - Of Christ, the heavenly King. - - "He neither shall be born - In housen nor in hall, - Nor in the place of paradise, - But in an ox's stall. - - "He neither shall be clothèd - In purple nor in pall, - But in the fair white linen - That usen babies all. - - "He neither shall be rockèd - In silver nor in gold, - But in a wooden manger - That resteth on the mould." - - As Joseph was a-walking, - There did an angel sing, - And Mary's child at midnight - Was born to be our King. - - Then be ye glad, good people, - This night of all the year, - And light ye up your candles, - For his star it shineth clear. - - _Old English_ - - -In Excelsis Gloria - - When Christ was born of Mary free, - In Bethlehem, in that fair citie, - Angels sang there with mirth and glee, - _In Excelsis Gloria!_ - - Herdsmen beheld these angels bright, - To them appearing with great light, - Who said, "God's Son is born this night," - _In Excelsis Gloria!_ - - This King is come to save mankind, - As in Scripture truths we find, - Therefore this song have we in mind, - _In Excelsis Gloria!_ - - Then, Lord, for thy great grace, - Grant us the bliss to see thy face, - Where we may sing to thy solace, - _In Excelsis Gloria!_ - - _From the Harleian MSS._ - - -God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen - - God rest you merry, gentlemen, - Let nothing you dismay, - For Jesus Christ, our Saviour, - Was born upon this day; - To save us all from Satan's power, - When we were gone astray. - - _O tidings of comfort and joy, - For Jesus Christ our Saviour - was born on Christmas Day._ - - In Bethlehem in Jewry - This blessed babe was born, - And laid within a manger - Upon this blessed morn; - The which His mother Mary - Nothing did take in scorn. - _O tidings of comfort and joy_,-- - - From God, our Heavenly Father, - A blessed Angel came, - And, unto certain shepherds, - Brought tidings of the same; - How, that in Bethlehem was born - The Son of God by name. - _O tidings of comfort and joy_,-- - - * * * * * - - The Shepherds at those tidings, - Rejoicèd much in mind, - And left their flocks a-feeding - In tempest, storm, and wind, - And went to Bethlehem straightway, - This blessed Babe to find. - _O tidings of comfort and joy_,-- - - But when to Bethlehem they came, - Where as this Infant lay, - They found him in a manger - Where oxen feed on hay, - His mother Mary kneeling - Unto the Lord did pray. - _O tidings of comfort and joy_,-- - - Now to the Lord sing praises - All you within this place, - And with true love and brotherhood - Each other now embrace, - This holy tide of Christmas - All others doth deface. - _O tidings of comfort and joy, - For Jesus Christ our Saviour - was born on Christmas Day._ - - _Old English_ - - -The Golden Carol - -(Of Melchior, Balthazar, and Gaspar, the Three Kings of Cologne) - - We saw the light shine out a-far, - On Christmas in the morning, - And straight we knew Christ's Star it was, - Bright beaming in the morning. - Then did we fall on bended knee, - On Christmas in the morning, - And prais'd the Lord, who'd let us see - His glory at its dawning. - - Oh! ever thought be of His Name, - On Christmas in the morning, - Who bore for us both grief and shame, - Afflictions sharpest scorning. - - And may we die (when death shall come), - On Christmas in the morning, - And see in heav'n, our glorious home, - The Star of Christmas morning. - - _Old English_ - - -Caput apri refero resonens laudes domino - - The boar's head in hands I bring, - With garlands gay and birds singing! - I pray you all help me to sing, - _Qui estis in convivio_! - - The boar's head I understand, - Is chief service in all this land, - Wheresoever it may be found, - _Servitur cum sinapio_! - - The boar's head I dare well say, - Anon after the twelfth day, - He taketh his leave and goeth away! - _Exivit tunc de patria!_ - - _From a Balliol MS. of about 1540_ - - -Villagers All, this Frosty Tide - - Villagers all, this frosty tide, - Let your doors swing open wide, - Though wind may follow, and snow beside, - Yet draw us in by your fire to bide; - _Joy shall be yours in the morning_! - - Here we stand in the cold and the sleet, - Blowing fingers and stamping feet, - Come from far away you to greet-- - You by the fire and we in the street-- - _Bidding you joy in the morning_! - - For ere one half of the night was gone, - Sudden a star has led us on, - Raining bliss and benison-- - Bliss to-morrow and more anon, - _Joy for every morning_. - - Goodman Joseph toiled through the snow-- - Saw a star o'er a stable low; - Mary she might not further go-- - Welcome thatch, and litter below! - _Joy was hers in the morning!_ - - And then they heard the angels tell - 'Who were the first to cry Nowell? - Animals all, as it befell, - In the stable where they did dwell! - _Joy shall be theirs in the morning!_' - - Quoted in _The Wind in the Willows_, by KENNETH GRAHAME. - -_By permission of Charles Scribner's Sons_ - - -Holly Song - - Blow, blow, thou winter winde, - Thou art not so unkinde, - As mans ingratitude - Thy tooth is not so keene, - Because thou art not seene, - Although thy breath be rude. - _Heigh ho, sing heigh ho, unto the greene holly, - Most frendship is fayning; most Loving, meere folly: - Then heigh ho, the holly, - This Life is most jolly._ - - Freize, freize, thou bitter skie - That dost not bight so nigh - As benefitts forgot: - Though thou the waters warpe, - Thy sting is not so sharpe, - As freind remembred not. - _Heigh ho, sing heigh ho, unto the greene holly, - Most frendship is fayning; most Loving, meere folly: - Then heigh ho, the holly, - This Life is most jolly._ - - WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE - - -Before the Paling of the Stars - - Before the paling of the stars, - Before the winter morn, - Before the earliest cockcrow, - Jesus Christ was born: - Born in a stable, - Cradled in a manger, - In the world His hands had made - Born a stranger. - - Priest and King lay fast asleep - In Jerusalem, - Young and old lay fast asleep - In crowded Bethlehem: - Saint and Angel, ox and ass, - Kept a watch together - Before the Christmas daybreak - In the winter weather. - - Jesus on His Mother's breast - In the stable cold, - Spotless Lamb of God was He, - Shepherd of the fold: - Let us kneel with Mary Maid, - With Joseph bent and hoary, - With Saint and Angel, ox and ass, - To hail the King of Glory. - - CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI - - -"The Minstrels played their Christmas Tune" - - The minstrels played their Christmas tune - To-night beneath my cottage eaves; - While, smitten by a lofty moon, - The encircling laurels, thick with leaves, - Gave back a rich and dazzling sheen, - That overpowered their natural green. - - Through hill and valley every breeze - Had sunk to rest with folded wings: - Keen was the air, but could not freeze, - Nor check the music of the strings; - So stout and hardy were the band - That scraped the chords with strenuous hand. - - And who but listened?--till was paid - Respect to every inmate's claim: - The greeting given, the music played, - In honour of each household name, - Duly pronounced with lusty call, - And "merry Christmas" wished to all! - - * * * * * - - For pleasure hath not ceased to wait - On these expected annual rounds; - Whether the rich man's sumptuous gate - Call forth the unelaborate sounds, - Or they are offered at the door - That guards the lowliest of the poor. - - How touching, when, at midnight, sweep - Snow-muffled winds, and all is dark, - To hear--and sink again to sleep! - Or, at an earlier call, to mark, - By blazing fire, the still suspense - Of self-complacent innocence. - - The mutual nod,--the grave disguise - Of hearts with gladness brimming o'er; - And some unbidden tears that rise - For names once heard, and heard no more; - Tears brightened by the serenade - For infant in the cradle laid. - - * * * * * - - Hail, ancient Manners! sure defence, - Where they survive, of wholesome laws; - Remnants of love whose modest sense - Thus into narrow room withdraws; - Hail, Usages of pristine mould, - And ye that guard them, Mountains old! - - * * * * * - - Yes, they can make, who fail to find - Short leisure even in busiest days, - Moments, to cast a look behind, - And profit by those kindly rays - That through the clouds do sometimes steal, - And all the far-off past reveal. - - WILLIAM WORDSWORTH - - -A Carol from the Old French - - I hear along our street - Pass the minstrel throngs; - Hark! they play so sweet, - On their hautboys, Christmas songs! - _Let us by the fire - Ever higher - Sing them till the night expire!_ - - In December ring - Every day the chimes; - Loud the gleemen sing - In the street their merry rhymes. - _Let us by the fire - Ever higher - Sing them till the night expire!_ - - Shepherds at the grange, - Where the Babe was born, - Sang, with many a change, - Christmas carols until morn. - _Let us by the fire - Ever higher - Sing them till the night expire!_ - - These good people sang - Songs devout and sweet; - While the rafters rang, - There they stood with freezing feet. - _Let us by the fire - Ever higher - Sing them till the night expire!_ - - * * * * * - - Who by the fireside stands - Stamps his feet and sings; - But he who blows his hands - Not so gay a carol brings. - _Let us by the fire - Ever higher - Sing them till the night expire!_ - - HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW - _A Paraphrase from the Old French_ - -[Illustration: THE MADONNA. _Giovanni Bellini._] - - -From Far Away - - From far away we come to you. - _The snow in the street, and the wind on the door_, - To tell of great tidings, strange and true. - _Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor._ - From far away we come to you, - To tell of great tidings, strange and true. - - For as we wandered far and wide, - _The snow in the street, and the wind on the door_, - What hap do you deem there should us betide? - _Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor._ - - Under a bent when the night was deep, - _The snow in the street, and the wind on the door_, - There lay three shepherds, tending their sheep. - _Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor._ - - "O ye shepherds, what have ye seen, - _The snow in the street, and the wind on the door_, - To stay your sorrow and heal your teen?" - _Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor._ - - "In an ox stall this night we saw, - _The snow in the street, and the wind on the door_, - A Babe and a maid without a flaw. - _Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor._ - - "There was an old man there beside; - _The snow in the street, and the wind on the door_, - His hair was white, and his hood was wide. - _Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor._ - - "And as we gazed this thing upon, - _The snow in the street, and the wind on the door_, - Those twain knelt down to the little one. - _Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor._ - - "And a marvellous song we straight did hear, - _The snow in the street, and the wind on the door_, - That slew our sorrow and healed our care." - _Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor._ - - News of a fair and a marvellous thing, - _The snow in the street, and the wind on the door_, - Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, we sing. - _Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor._ - - _Old English Carol_ - - -A Christmas Carol - - "What means this glory round our feet," - The Magi mused, "more bright than morn?" - And voices chanted clear and sweet, - "To-day the Prince of Peace is born!" - - "What means that star," the Shepherds said, - "That brightens through the rocky glen?" - And angels, answering overhead, - Sang, "Peace on earth, good-will to men!" - - 'Tis eighteen hundred years and more - Since those sweet oracles were dumb; - We wait for Him, like them of yore; - Alas, He seems so slow to come! - - But it was said, in words of gold, - No time or sorrow e'er shall dim, - That little children might be bold - In perfect trust to come to Him. - - All round about our feet shall shine - A light like that the wise men saw, - If we our loving wills incline - To that sweet Life which is the Law. - - So shall we learn to understand - The simple faith of shepherds then, - And, clasping kindly hand in hand, - Sing, "Peace on earth, good-will to men!" - - But they who do their souls no wrong, - But keep at eve the faith of morn, - Shall daily hear the angel-song, - "To-day the Prince of Peace is born!" - - JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL - - -A Christmas Carol for Children - - Good news from heaven the angels bring, - Glad tidings to the earth they sing: - To us this day a child is given, - To crown us with the joy of heaven. - - This is the Christ, our God and Lord, - Who in all need shall aid afford: - He will Himself our Saviour be, - From sin and sorrow set us free. - - To us that blessedness He brings, - Which from the Father's bounty springs: - That in the heavenly realm we may - With Him enjoy eternal day. - - All hail, Thou noble Guest, this morn, - Whose love did not the sinner scorn! - In my distress Thou cam'st to me: - What thanks shall I return to Thee? - - Were earth a thousand times as fair, - Beset with gold and jewels rare, - She yet were far too poor to be - A narrow cradle, Lord, for Thee. - - Ah, dearest Jesus, Holy Child! - Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled, - Within my heart, that it may be - A quiet chamber kept for Thee. - - Praise God upon His heavenly throne, - Who gave to us His only Son: - For this His hosts, on joyful wing, - A blest New Year of mercy sing. - - MARTIN LUTHER - - - - -V - -CHRISTMAS DAY - -[Illustration: CHRISTMAS DAY] - - The Unbroken Song - A Scene of Mediæval Christmas - Christmas in Dreamthorp - By the Christmas Fire - Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity - Christmas Church - Dolly urges Silas Marner to go to Church - Yule in the Old Town - The Mahogany Tree - The Holly and the Ivy - Ballade of Christmas Ghosts - Christmas Treasures - Wassailer's Song - -[Illustration] - - -The Unbroken Song - - I heard the bells on Christmas Day, - Their old, familiar carols play, - And wild and sweet - The words repeat - Of peace on earth, good-will to men! - - And thought how, as the day had come, - The belfries of all Christendom - Had rolled along - The unbroken song - Of peace on earth, good-will to men! - - HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW - - -A Scene of Mediæval Christmas - -Let us imagine Christmas Day in a mediæval town of Northern England. -The cathedral is only partly finished. Its nave and transepts are the -work of Norman architects, but the choir has been destroyed in order -to be rebuilt by more graceful designers and more skillful hands. The -old city is full of craftsmen assembled to complete the church. Some -have come, as a religious duty, to work off their tale of sins by -bodily labor. Some are animated by a love of art--simple men who might -have rivalled with the Greeks in ages of more cultivation. Others, -again, are well-known carvers brought for hire from distant towns and -countries beyond the sea. But to-day, and for some days past, the sound -of hammer and chisel has been silent in the choir. Monks have bustled -about the nave, dressing it up with holly boughs and bushes of yew, -and preparing a stage for the sacred play they are going to exhibit -on the feast-day. Christmas is not like Corpus Christi, and now the -market-place stands inches deep in snow, so that the Miracles must be -enacted beneath a roof instead of in the open air. And what place so -appropriate as the cathedral, where poor people may have warmth and -shelter while they see the show? Besides, the gloomy old church, with -its windows darkened by the falling snow, lends itself to candle-light -effects that will enhance the splendor of the scene. Everything is -ready. The incense of morning mass yet lingers round the altar. The -voice of the friar, who told the people from the pulpit the story of -Christ's birth, has hardly ceased to echo. Time has just been given -for a mid-day dinner, and for the shepherds and farm lads to troop in -from the countryside. The monks are ready at the wooden stage to draw -its curtain, and all the nave is full of eager faces. There you may see -the smith and carpenter, the butcher's wife, the country priest, and -the gray-cowled friar. Scores of workmen, whose home the cathedral for -the time is made, are also here, and you may know the artists by their -thoughtful foreheads and keen eyes. That young monk carved Madonna and -her Son above the southern porch. Beside him stands the master-mason, -whose strong arms have hewn gigantic images of prophets and apostles -for the pinnacles outside the choir; and the little man with cunning -eyes between the two is he who cuts such quaint hobgoblins for the -gargoyles. He has a vein of satire in him, and his humor overflows into -the stone. Many and many a grim beast and hideous head has he hidden -among vine-leaves and trellis-work upon the porches. Those who know him -well are loath to anger him, for fear their sons and sons' sons should -laugh at them forever caricatured in solid stone. - -Hark! there sounds the bell. The curtain is drawn, and the candles -blaze brightly round the wooden stage. What is this first scene? We -have God in Heaven, dressed like a pope with triple crown, and attended -by his court of angels. They sing and toss up censers till he lifts -his hand and speaks. In a long Latin speech he unfolds the order of -creation and his will concerning man. At the end of it up leaps an ugly -buffoon, in goatskin, with rams' horns upon his head. Some children -begin to cry; but the older people laugh, for this is the Devil, the -clown and comic character, who talks their common tongue, and has no -reverence before the very throne of Heaven. He asks leave to plague -men, and receives it; then, with many a curious caper, he goes down -to Hell, beneath the stage. The angels sing and toss their censers as -before, and the first scene closes to a sound of organs. The next is -more conventional, in spite of some grotesque incidents. It represents -the Fall; the monks hurry over it quickly, as a tedious but necessary -prelude to the birth of Christ. That is the true Christmas part of -the ceremony, and it is understood that the best actors and most -beautiful dresses are to be reserved for it. The builders of the choir -in particular are interested in the coming scenes, since one of their -number has been chosen, for his handsome face and tenor voice, to sing -the angel's part. He is a young fellow of nineteen, but his beard is -not yet grown, and long hair hangs down upon his shoulders. A chorister -of the cathedral, his younger brother, will act the Virgin Mary. At -last the curtain is drawn. - -We see a cottage room, dimly lighted by a lamp, and Mary spinning -near her bedside. She sings a country air, and goes on working, till -a rustling noise is heard, more light is thrown upon the stage, and a -glorious creature, in white raiment, with broad golden wings, appears. -He bears a lily, and cries, "Ave Maria, Gratia Plena!" She does not -answer, but stands confused, with down-dropped eyes and timid mien. -Gabriel rises from the ground and comforts her, and sings aloud his -message of glad tidings. Then Mary gathers courage, and, kneeling in -her turn, thanks God; and when the angel and his radiance disappears, -she sings the song of the Magnificat, clearly and simply, in the -darkened room. Very soft and silver sounds this hymn through the great -church. The women kneel, and children are hushed as by a lullaby. -But some of the hinds and 'prentice-lads begin to think it rather -dull. They are not sorry when the next scene opens with a sheep-fold -and a little camp-fire. Unmistakable bleatings issue from the fold, -and five or six common fellows are sitting round the blazing wood. -One might fancy they had stepped straight from the church floor to -the stage, so natural do they look. Besides, they call themselves by -common names--Colin and Tom Lie-a-bed and Nimble Dick. Many a round -laugh wakes echoes in the church when these shepherds stand up, and -hold debate about a stolen sheep. Tom Lie-a-bed has nothing to remark -but that he is very sleepy, and does not want to go in search of it -to-night; Colin cuts jokes, and throws out shrewd suspicions that Dick -knows something of the matter; but Dick is sly, and keeps them off the -scent, although a few of his asides reveal to the audience that he is -the real thief. While they are thus talking, silence falls upon the -shepherds. Soft music from the church organ breathes, and they appear -to fall asleep. - -The stage is now quite dark, and for a few moments the aisles echo only -to the dying melody. When, behold, a ray of light is seen, and splendor -grows around the stage from hidden candles, and in the glory Gabriel -appears upon a higher platform made to look like clouds. The shepherds -wake in confusion, striving to shelter their eyes from this unwonted -brilliancy. But Gabriel waves his lily, spreads his great gold wings, -and bids good cheer with clarion voice. The shepherds fall to worship, -and suddenly round Gabriel there gathers a choir of angels, and a song -of "Gloria in Excelsis" to the sound of a deep organ is heard far off. -From distant aisles it swells, and seems to come from heaven. Through -a long resonant fugue the glory flies, and as it ceases with complex -conclusion, the lights die out, the angels disappear, and Gabriel fades -into the darkness. Still the shepherds kneel, rustically chanting a -carol half in Latin, half in English, which begins "In dulci Jubilo." -The people know it well, and when the chorus rises with "Ubi sunt -gaudia?" its wild melody is caught by voices up and down the nave. This -scene makes deep impression upon many hearts; for the beauty of Gabriel -is rare, and few who see him in his angel's dress would know him for -the lad who daily carves his lilies and broad water-flags about the -pillars of the choir. To that simple audience he interprets Heaven, -and little children will see him in their dreams. Dark winter nights -and awful forests will be trodden by his feet, made musical by his -melodious voice, and parted by the rustling of his wings. The youth -himself may return to-morrow to the workman's blouse and chisel, but -his memory lives in many minds and may form a part of Christmas for the -fancy of men as yet unborn. - -The next drawing of the curtain shows us the stable of Bethlehem -crowned by its star. There kneels Mary, and Joseph leans upon his -staff. The ox and the ass are close at hand, and Jesus lies in jeweled -robes on straw within the manger. To right and left bow the shepherds, -worshiping in dumb show, while voices from behind chant a solemn hymn. -In the midst of the melody is heard the flourish of trumpets, and -heralds step upon the stage, followed by the three crowned kings. They -have come from the far East, led by the star. The song ceases, while -drums and fifes and trumpets play a stately march. The kings pass by, -and do obeisance one by one. Each gives some costly gift; each doffs -his crown and leaves it at the Saviour's feet. Then they retire to a -distance and worship in silence like the shepherds. Again the angels' -song is heard, and while it dies away the curtain closes and the lights -are put out. - -The play is over, and the evening has come. The people must go from the -warm church into the frozen snow, and crunch their homeward way beneath -the moon. But in their minds they carry a sense of light and music and -unearthly loveliness. Not a scene of this day's pageant will be lost. -It grows within them and creates the poetry of Christmas. Nor must we -forget the sculptors who listen to the play. We spoke of them minutely, -because these mysteries sank deep into their souls and found a way into -their carvings on the cathedral walls. The monk who made Madonna by -the southern porch will remember Gabriel and place him bending low in -lordly salutation by her side. The painted glass of the chapter-house -will glow with fiery choirs of angels learned by heart that night. -And who does not know the mocking devils and quaint satyrs that the -humorous sculptor carved among his fruits and flowers? Some of the -misereres of the stalls still bear portraits of the shepherd thief, and -of the ox and ass who blinked so blindly when the kings, by torchlight, -brought their dazzling gifts. Truly these old miracle-plays and the -carved work of cunning hands that they inspired are worth to us more -than all the delicate creations of Italian pencils. Our homely Northern -churches still retain, for the child who reads their bosses and their -sculptured fronts, more Christmas poetry than we can find in Fra -Angelico's devoutness or the liveliness of Giotto. Not that Southern -artists have done nothing for our Christmas. Cimabue's gigantic angels -at Assisi, and the radiant seraphs of Raphael or of Signorelli, were -seen by Milton in his Italian journey. He gazed in Romish churches on -graceful Nativities, into which Angelico and Credi threw their simple -souls. How much they tinged his fancy we cannot say. But what we know -of heavenly hierarchies we later men have learned from Milton; and what -he saw he spoke, and what he spoke in sounding verse lives for us now -and sways our reason, and controls our fancy, and makes fine art of -high theology. - - JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS - - -Christmas in Dreamthorp - -This, then, is Christmas. 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 so much 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, or 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 connection--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 the 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 absent. - - ALEXANDER SMITH - - -By the Christmas Fire - -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 reread 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 up -the well-worn volume it 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 glow-worms." 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--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. - - HAMILTON W. MABIE in _My Study Fire_ - - _By permission of Dodd, Mead & Co._ - - -Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity - - This is the month, and this the happy morn - Wherein the Son of Heaven's Eternal King, - Of wedded maid and virgin mother born, - Our great redemption from above did bring; - For so the holy sages once did sing - That He our deadly forfeit should release, - And with His Father work us a perpetual peace. - - That glorious Form, that Light unsufferable, - And that far-beaming blaze of Majesty - Wherewith He, wont at Heaven's high council-table - To sit the midst of Trinal Unity, - He laid aside; and, here with us to be, - Forsook the courts of everlasting day, - And chose with us a darksome house of mortal clay. - - Say, heavenly Muse, shall not thy sacred vein - Afford a present to the Infant God? - Hast thou no verse, no hymn, or solemn strain - To welcome Him to this His new abode - Now while the heaven, by the sun's team untrod, - Hath took no print of the approaching light, - And all the spangled host keep watch in squadrons bright? - - See how from far, upon the eastern road, - The star-led wizards haste with odours sweet: - O run, prevent them with thy humble ode - And lay it lowly at His blessed feet; - Have thou the honour first thy Lord to greet, - And join thy voice unto the Angel quire - From out His secret altar touched with hallow'd fire. - - -THE HYMN - - It was the winter wild - While the heaven-born Child - All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies; - Nature in awe to Him - Had doff'd her gaudy trim, - With her great Master so to sympathize: - It was no season then for her - To wanton with the sun, her lusty paramour. - - Only with speeches fair - She woos the gentle air - To hide her guilty front with innocent snow; - And on her naked shame, - Pollute with sinful blame, - The saintly veil of maiden white to throw; - Confounded, that her Maker's eyes - Should look so near upon her foul deformities. - - But He, her fears to cease, - Sent down the meek-eyed Peace; - She, crown'd with olive green, came softly sliding - Down through the turning sphere, - His ready harbinger, - With turtle wing the amorous clouds dividing; - And waving wide her myrtle wand, - She strikes a universal peace through sea and land. - - No war, or battle's sound - Was heard the world around: - The idle spear and shield were high uphung; - The hooked chariot stood - Unstain'd with hostile blood; - The trumpet spake not to the armed throng; - And kings sat still with awful eye, - As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by. - - But peaceful was the night - Wherein the Prince of Light - His reign of peace upon the earth began; - The winds, with wonder whist, - Smoothly, the waters kist, - Whispering new joys to the mild ocean-- - Who now hath quite forgot to rave, - While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave. - - The stars, with deep amaze, - Stand fix'd in steadfast gaze, - Bending one way their precious influence; - And will not take their flight - For all the morning light, - Or Lucifer that often warn'd them thence; - But in their glimmering orbs did glow - Until their Lord Himself bespake, and bid them go. - - And though the shady gloom - Had given day her room, - The sun himself withheld his wonted speed, - And hid his head for shame, - As his inferior flame - The new-enlightened world no more should need; - He saw a greater Sun appear - Than his bright throne, or burning axletree could bear. - - The shepherds on the lawn - Or ere the point of dawn - Sate simply chatting in a rustic row; - Full little thought they than - That the mighty Pan - Was kindly come to live with them below; - Perhaps their loves, or else their sheep - Was all that did their silly thoughts so busy keep:-- - - When such music sweet - Their hearts and ears did greet - As never was by mortal finger strook-- - Divinely-warbled voice - Answering the stringed noise, - As all their souls in blissful rapture took: - The air, such pleasure loth to lose, - With thousand echoes still prolongs each heavenly close. - - * * * * * - - Such music (as 'tis said) - Before was never made - But when of old the Sons of Morning sung, - While the Creator great - His constellations set - And the well-balanced world on hinges hung; - And cast the dark foundations deep, - And bid the weltering waves their oozy channel keep. - - Ring out, ye crystal spheres! - Once bless our human ears, - If ye have power to touch our senses so; - And let your silver chime - Move in melodious time; - And let the bass of heaven's deep organ blow; - And with your ninefold harmony - Make up full consort to the angelic symphony. - - For if such holy song - Enwrap our fancy long, - Time will run back, and fetch the age of gold; - And speckled Vanity - Will sicken soon and die, - And leprous sin will melt from earthly mould; - And Hell itself will pass away, - And leave her dolorous mansions to the peering day. - - Yea, Truth and Justice then - Will down return to men, - Orb'd in a rainbow; and, like glories wearing, - Mercy will sit between - Throned in celestial sheen, - With radiant feet the tissued clouds down steering; - And Heaven, as at some festival, - Will open wide the gates of her high palace-hall. - - * * * * * - - But see! the Virgin blest - Hath laid her Babe to rest; - Time is, our tedious song should here have ending: - Heaven's youngest-teemed star - Hath fix'd her polish'd car, - Her sleeping Lord with hand-maid lamp attending: - And all about the courtly stable - Bright-harnessed Angels sit in order serviceable. - - JOHN MILTON - - -Christmas Church - -When I awoke on Christmas morning, while I lay musing on my pillow, -I heard the sound of little feet pattering outside of the door, and -a whispering consultation. Presently a choir of small voices chanted -forth an old Christmas carol, the burden of which was, - - Rejoice, our Saviour he was born - On Christmas Day in the morning. - -I rose softly, slipped on my clothes, opened the door suddenly, and -beheld one of the most beautiful little fairy groups that a painter -could imagine. It consisted of a boy and two girls, the eldest not -more than six, and lovely as seraphs. They were going the rounds of -the house, and singing at every chamber-door; but my sudden appearance -frightened them into mute bashfulness. They remained for a moment -playing on their lips with their fingers, and now and then stealing a -shy glance from under their eyebrows, until, as if by one impulse, they -scampered away, and as they turned an angle of the gallery, I heard -them laughing in triumph at their escape. - -Everything conspired to produce kind and happy feelings in this -stronghold of old-fashioned hospitality. The window of my chamber -looked out upon what in summer would have been a beautiful landscape. -There was a sloping lawn, a fine stream winding at the foot of it, -and a tract of park beyond, with noble clumps of trees, and herds of -deer. At a distance was a neat hamlet, with the smoke from the cottage -chimneys hanging over it; and a church with its dark spire in strong -relief against the clear cold sky. The house was surrounded with -evergreens, according to the English custom, which would have given -almost an appearance of summer; but the morning was extremely frosty; -the light vapour of the preceding evening had been precipitated by -the cold, and covered all the trees and every blade of grass with its -fine crystallizations. The rays of a bright morning sun had a dazzling -effect among the glittering foliage. A robin, perched upon the top of -a mountain-ash that hung its clusters of red berries just before my -window, was basking himself in the sunshine, and piping a few querulous -notes; and a peacock was displaying all the glories of his train, -and strutting with the pride and gravity of a Spanish grandee on the -terrace-walk below. - -[Illustration: THE VIRGIN ADORING THE INFANT CHILD. _Correggio._] - -I had scarcely dressed myself, when a servant appeared to invite me -to family prayers. I afterwards understood that early morning service -was read on every Sunday and saint's day throughout the year, either -by Mr. Bracebridge or by some member of the family. It was once almost -universally the case at the seats of the nobility and gentry of -England, and it is much to be regretted that the custom is fallen into -neglect; for the dullest observer must be sensible of the order and -serenity prevalent in those households, where the occasional exercise -of a beautiful form of worship in the morning gives, as it were, the -keynote to every temper for the day, and attunes every spirit to -harmony. - -"If you are disposed to go to church," said Frank Bracebridge, "I can -promise you a specimen of my cousin Simon's musical achievements. As -the church is destitute of an organ, he has formed a band from the -village amateurs, and established a musical club for their improvement; -he has also sorted a choir, as he sorted my father's pack of hounds, -according to the directions of Jervaise Markham, in his Country -Contentments; for the bass he has sought out all the 'deep solemn -mouths,' and for the tenor the 'loud ringing mouths,' among the country -bumpkins; and for 'sweet mouths,' he has culled with curious taste -among the prettiest lasses in the neighbourhood; though these last, he -affirms, are the most difficult to keep in tune; your pretty female -singer being exceedingly wayward and capricious, and very liable to -accident." - -As the morning, though frosty, was remarkably fine and clear, the -most of the family walked to the church, which was a very old building -of gray stone, and stood near a village, about half-a-mile from the -park gate. Adjoining it was a low snug parsonage, which seemed coeval -with the church. The front of it was perfectly matted with a yew-tree -that had been trained against its walls, through the dense foliage of -which apertures had been formed to admit light into the small antique -lattices. As we passed this sheltered nest, the parson issued forth and -preceded us. - - * * * * * - -The usual services of the choir were managed tolerably well, the vocal -parts generally lagging a little behind the instrumental, and some -loitering fiddler now and then making up for lost time by travelling -over a passage with prodigious celerity, and clearing more bars than -the keenest fox-hunter to be in at the death. But the great trial was -an anthem that had been prepared and arranged by Master Simon, and on -which he had founded great expectation. Unluckily there was a blunder -at the very outset; the musicians became flurried; Master Simon was in -a fever, everything went on lamely and irregularly until they came to -a chorus beginning "Now let us sing with one accord," which seemed to -be a signal for parting company: all became discord and confusion; each -shifted for himself, and got to the end as well, or rather as soon, -as he could, excepting one old chorister in a pair of horn spectacles -bestriding and pinching a long sonorous nose; who, happening to stand -a little apart, and being wrapped up in his own melody, kept on a -quavering course, wriggling his head, ogling his book, and winding all -up by a nasal solo of at least three bars' duration. - -The parson gave us a most erudite sermon on the rites and ceremonies -of Christmas, and the propriety of observing it not merely as a day -of thanksgiving, but of rejoicing; supporting the correctness of his -opinions by the earliest usages of the Church, and enforcing them by -the authorities of Theophilus of Cesarea, St. Cyprian, St. Chrysostom, -St. Augustine and a cloud more of Saints and Fathers, from whom he made -copious quotations. I was a little at a loss to perceive the necessity -of such a mighty array of forces to maintain a point which no one -present seemed inclined to dispute; but I soon found that the good -man had a legion of ideal adversaries to contend with; having, in the -course of his researches on the subject of Christmas, got completely -embroiled in the sectarian controversies of the Revolution, when the -Puritans made such a fierce assault upon the ceremonies of the Church, -and poor old Christmas was driven out of the land by proclamation of -parliament. The worthy parson lived but with times past, and knew but a -little of the present. - -Shut up among worm-eaten tomes in the retirement of his antiquated -little study, the pages of old times were to him as the gazettes of the -day; while the era of the Revolution was mere modern history. He forgot -that nearly two centuries had elapsed since the fiery persecution of -poor mince-pie throughout the land; when plum-porridge was denounced as -"mere popery," and roast beef as anti-christian; and that Christmas has -been brought in again triumphantly with the merry court of King Charles -at the Restoration. He kindled into warmth with the ardour of his -contest, and the host of imaginary foes with whom he had to combat; had -a stubborn conflict with old Prynne and two or three other forgotten -champions of the Roundheads, on the subject of Christmas festivity; -and concluded by urging his hearers, in the most solemn and affecting -manner, to stand to the traditionary customs of their fathers, and -feast and make merry on this joyful anniversary of the Church. - -I have seldom known a sermon attended apparently with more immediate -effects; for on leaving the church the congregation seemed one and all -possessed with the gaiety of spirit so earnestly enjoined by their -pastor. The elder folks gathered in knots in the churchyard, greeting -and shaking hands; and the children ran about crying Ule! Ule! and -repeating some uncouth rhymes, which the parson, who had joined us, -informed me had been handed down from days of yore. The villagers -doffed their hats to the Squire as he passed, giving him the good -wishes of the season with every appearance of heartfelt sincerity, and -were invited by him to the Hall, to take something to keep out the cold -of the weather; and I heard blessings uttered by several of the poor, -which convinced me that, in the midst of his enjoyments, the worthy old -cavalier had not forgotten the true Christmas virtue of charity. - - WASHINGTON IRVING - - -Dolly urges Silas Marner to go to Church on Christmas Day - -"There's the bakehus if you could make up your mind to spend a twopence -on the oven now and then,--not every week, in course--I shouldn't like -to do that myself,--you might carry your bit o' dinner there, for it's -nothing but right to have a bit o' summat hot of a Sunday, and not -to make it as you can't know your dinner from Saturday. But now, upo' -Christmas-day, this blessed Christmas as is ever coming, if you was to -take your dinner to the bakehus, and go to church, and see the holly -and the yew, and hear the anthim, and then take the sacramen', you'd be -a deal the better, and you'd know which end you stood on, and you could -put your trust i' Them as knows better nor we do, seein' you'd ha' done -what it lies on us all to do." - -Dolly's exhortation, which was an unusually long effort of speech for -her, was uttered in the soothing persuasive tone with which she would -have tried to prevail on a sick man to take his medicine, or a basin of -gruel for which he had no appetite. - - * * * * * - -But now, little Aaron, having become used to the weaver's awful -presence, had advanced to his mother's side, and Silas, seeming to -notice him for the first time, tried to return Dolly's signs of -good-will by offering the lad a bit of lard-cake. Aaron shrank back a -little, and rubbed his head against his mother's shoulder, but still -thought the piece of cake worth the risk of putting his hand out for it. - -"Oh, for shame, Aaron," said his mother, taking him on her lap, -however; "why, you don't want cake again yet awhile. He's wonderful -hearty," she went on, with a little sigh--"that he is, God knows. He's -my youngest, and we spoil him sadly, for either me or the father must -allays hev him in our sight--that we must." - -She stroked Aaron's brown head, and thought it must do Master Marner -good to see such a "pictur of a child." But Marner, on the other side -of the hearth, saw the neat-featured rosy face as a mere dim round, -with two dark spots in it. - -"And he's got a voice like a bird--you wouldn't think," Dolly went on; -"he can sing a Christmas carril as his father's taught him; and I take -it for a token as he'll come to good, as he can learn the good tunes -so quick. Come, Aaron, stan' up and sing the carril to Master Marner, -come." - -Aaron replied by rubbing his forehead against his mother's shoulder. -"Oh, that's naughty," said Dolly, gently. "Stan' up, when mother tells -you, and let me hold the cake till you've done." - -Aaron was not indisposed to display his talents, even to an ogre, -under protecting circumstances; and after a few more signs of coyness, -consisting chiefly in rubbing the backs of his hands over his eyes, -and then peeping between them at Master Marner, to see if he looked -anxious for the "carril," he at length allowed his head to be duly -adjusted, and standing behind the table, which let him appear above it -only as far as his broad frill, so that he looked like a cherubic head -untroubled with a body, he began with a clear chirp, and in a melody -that had the rhythm of an industrious hammer,-- - - "God rest you merry, gentlemen, - Let nothing you dismay, - For Jesus Christ our Saviour - Was born on Christmas-Day." - -Dolly listened with a devout look, glancing at Marner in some -confidence that this strain would help to allure him to church. - -"That's Christmas music," she said, when Aaron had ended, and had -secured his piece of cake again. "There's no other music equil to -the Christmas music--'Hark the erol angils sing.' And you may judge -what it is at church, Master Marner, with the bassoon and the voices, -as you can't help thinking you've got to a better place a'ready--for -I wouldn't speak ill o' this world, seeing as Them put us in it as -knows best; but what wi' the drink, and the quarrelling, and the bad -illnesses, and the hard dying, as I've seen times and times, one's -thankful to hear of a better. The boy sings pretty, don't he, Master -Marner?" - -"Yes," said Silas, absently, "very pretty." - -The Christmas carol, with its hammer-like rhythm, had fallen on his -ears as strange music, quite unlike a hymn, and could have none of -the effect Dolly contemplated. But he wanted to show her that he was -grateful, and the only mode that occurred to him was to offer Aaron a -bit more cake. - - GEORGE ELIOT. - - -Yule in the Old Town - -A whole fortnight we kept it. Real Christmas was from Little Christmas -Eve, which was the night before the Holy Eve proper, till New -Year's. Then there was a week of supplementary festivities before -things slipped back into their wonted groove. That was the time of -parties and balls. The great ball of the year was on the day after -Christmas,--Second Christmas Day we called it,--when all the quality -attended at the club-house, where the amtman and the burgomaster, the -bishop and the rector of the Latin School, did the honors and received -the people. That was the grandest of the town functions. The school -ball, late in autumn, was the jolliest, for then the boys invited each -the girl he liked best, and the older people were guests and outsiders, -so to speak. The Latin School--the Cathedral School, as it was still -called--was the oldest institution there next to the church and the -bishop, and when it took the stage it was easily first while it lasted. -The Yule ball, though it was a rather more formal affair, for all that -was neither stiff nor tiresome. Nothing was, in the Old Town; there -was too much genuine kindness for that. And then it was the recognized -occasion when matches were made by enterprising mammas, or by the -young themselves, and when engagements were declared and discussed as -the great news of the day. We heard all of those things afterward and -thought a great fuss was being made over nothing much. For when a young -couple were declared engaged, that meant that there was no more fun to -be got out of them. They were given, after that, to mooning about by -themselves and to chasing us children away when we ran across them; -until they happily returned to their senses, got married, and became -reasonable human beings once more. - -When we had been sent to bed, father and mother used to go away in -their Sunday very best, and we knew they would not return until two -o'clock in the morning, a fact which alone invested the occasion with -unwonted gravity, for the Old Town kept early hours. At ten o'clock, -when the watchman droned his sleepy lay, absurdly warning the people to - - "Be quick and bright, - Watch fire and light, - Our clock it has struck ten," - -it was ordinarily tucked in and asleep. But that night we lay awake -a long time listening to the muffled sound of heavy wheels in the -snow, rolling unceasingly past, and trying to picture to ourselves the -grandeur they conveyed. Every carriage in the town was then in use and -doing overtime. I think there were as many as four. - -When we were not dancing or playing games, we literally ate our way -through the two holiday weeks. Pastry by the mile did we eat, and -general indigestion brooded over the town when it emerged into the -white light of the new year. At any rate, it ought to have done so. It -is a prime article of faith with the Danes to this day that for any one -to go out of a friend's house, or of anybody's house, in the Christmas -season without partaking of its cheer, is to "bear away their Yule," -which no one must do on any account. Every house was a bakery from the -middle of December until Christmas Eve, and, oh! the quantities of -cakes we ate, and such cakes! We were sixteen normally in our home, -and mother mixed the dough for her cakes in a veritable horse trough -kept for that exclusive purpose. As much as a sack of flour went in, I -guess, and gallons of molasses, and whatever else went to the mixing. -For weeks there had been long and anxious speculations as to "what -father would do," and gloomy conferences between him and mother over -the state of the family pocketbook, which was never plethoric; but at -last the joyful message ran through the house from attic to kitchen -that the appropriation had been made, "even for citron," which meant -throwing all care to the winds. The thrill of it, when we children -stood by and saw the generous avalanche going into the trough! What -would not come out of it! The whole family turned to and helped make -the cakes and cut the "pepper nuts," which were little squares of cake -dough we played cards for and stuffed our pockets with, gnashing them -incessantly. Talk about eating between meals: ours was a continuous -performance for two solid weeks. - -The pepper nuts were the real staple of Christmas to us children. We -rolled the dough in long strings like slender eels and then cut it a -little on the bias. They were good, those nuts, when baked brown. I -wish I had some now. - -Christmas Eve was, of course, the great and blessed time. That was the -one night in the year when in the gray old Domkirke services were held -by candle-light. - -A myriad wax candles twinkled in the gloom, but did not dispel it. -It lingered under the great arches where the voice of the venerable -minister, the responses of the congregation, and above it all the -boyish treble of the choir, billowed and strove, now dreamingly with -the memories of ages past, now sharply, tossed from angle to corner -in the stone walls, and again in long thunderous echoes sweeping all -before it on the triumphant strains of the organ, like a victorious -army with banners crowding through the halls of time. So it sounded to -me as sleep gently tugged at my eyelids. The air grew heavy with the -smell of evergreens and of burning wax, and as the thunder of war drew -farther and farther away, in the shadow of the great pillars stirred -the phantoms of mailed knights whose names were hewn in the gravestones -there. We youngsters clung to the skirts of mother as we went out and -the great doors fell to behind us. And yet those Christmas eves, with -mother's gentle eyes forever inseparable from them, and with the glad -cries of "Merry Christmas!" ringing all about, have left a touch of -sweet peace in my heart which all the years have not effaced, nor ever -will.... - -When Ansgarius preached the White Christ to the vikings of the North, -so runs the legend of the Christmas-tree, the Lord sent his three -messengers, Faith, Hope, and Love, to help light the first tree. -Seeking one that should be high as hope, wide as love, and that bore -the sign of the cross on every bough, they chose the balsam fir, -which best of all the trees in the forest met the requirements.... -Wax candles are the only real thing for a Christmas-tree, candles of -wax that mingle their perfume with that of the burning fir, not the -by-product of some coal-oil or other abomination. What if the boughs -do catch fire? They can be watched, and too many candles are tawdry, -anyhow. Also, red apples, oranges, and old-fashioned cornucopias made -of colored paper, and made at home, look a hundred times better and -fitter in the green; and so do drums and toy trumpets and wald-horns, -and a rocking-horse reined up in front that need not have cost forty -dollars, or anything like it. - -I am thinking of one, or rather two, a little piebald team with a -wooden seat between, for which mother certainly did not give over -seventy-five cents at the store, that as "Belcher and Mamie"--the name -was bestowed on the beasts at sight by Kate, aged three, who bossed the -play-room--gave a generation of romping children more happiness than -all the expensive railroads and trolley-cars and steam engines that -are considered indispensable to keeping Christmas nowadays. And the -Noah's Ark with Noah and his wife and all the animals that went two by -two--ah, well, I haven't set out to preach a sermon on extravagance -that makes no one happier, but I wish--The legend makes me think of -the holly that grew in our Danish woods. We called it "Christ-thorn," -for to us it was of that the crown of thorns was made with which the -cruel soldiers mocked our Saviour, and the red berries were the drops -of blood that fell from his anguished brow. Therefore the holly was a -sacred tree, and to this day the woods in which I find it seem to me -like the forest where the Christmas roses bloomed in the night when the -Lord was born, different from all other woods, and better. - - JACOB RIIS in _The Old Town_ - - -The Mahogany Tree - - Christmas is here; - Winds whistle shrill, - Icy and chill, - Little care we: - Little we fear - Weather without, - Sheltered about - The mahogany tree. - - Once on the boughs, - Birds of rare plume - Sang, in its bloom; - Night-birds are we: - Here we carouse - Singing, like them, - Perched round the stem - Of the jolly old tree. - - Here let us sport, - Boys, as we sit; - Laughter and wit - Flashing so free. - Life is but short-- - When we are gone, - Let them sing on, - Round the old tree. - - Evenings we knew, - Happy as this; - Faces we miss, - Pleasant to see. - Kind hearts and true, - Gentle and just, - Peace to your dust! - We sing round the tree. - - Care, like a dun, - Lurks at the gate: - Let the dog wait: - Happy we'll be! - Drink every one; - Pile up the coals, - Fill the red bowls, - Round the old tree! - - Drain we the cup.-- - Friend, art afraid? - Spirits are laid - In the Red Sea. - Mantle it up; - Empty it yet; - Let us forget, - Round the old tree. - - Sorrows, begone! - Life and its ills, - Duns and their bills, - Bid we to flee. - Come with the dawn, - Blue-devil sprite, - Leave us to-night, - Round the old tree. - - WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY - - -The Holly and the Ivy - - The Holly and the Ivy, - Now both are full well grown; - Of all the trees that spring in wood, - The Holly bears the crown. - The Holly bears a blossom, - As white as lily flow'r; - And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ, - To be our sweet Saviour, - _To be our sweet Saviour_. - - The Holly bears a berry, - As red as any blood; - And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ, - To do poor sinners good. - The Holly bears a prickle, - As sharp as any thorn; - And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ, - On Christmas day in the morn, - _On Christmas day in the morn_. - - The Holly bears a bark, - As bitter as any gall; - And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ, - For to redeem us all. - The Holly and the Ivy, - Now both are full well grown; - Of all the trees that spring in wood, - The Holly bears the crown, - _The Holly bears the crown_. - - _Old English Song_ - - -Ballade of Christmas Ghosts - - Between the moonlight and the fire, - In winter twilights long ago, - What ghosts we raised for your desire, - To make your merry blood run slow; - How old, how grave, how wise we grow, - No Christmas ghost can make us chill, - Save those that troop in mournful row, - The ghosts we all can raise at will! - - The beasts can talk in barn and byre, - On Christmas Eve, old legends know, - As year by year the years retire; - We men fall silent then, I trow; - Such sights hath memory to show, - Such voices from the silence thrill, - Such shapes return with Christmas snow-- - The ghosts we all can raise at will. - - Oh, children of the village choir, - Your carols on the midnight throw; - Oh, bright across the mist and mire, - Ye ruddy hearths of Christmas, glow! - Beat back the dread, beat down the woe, - Let's cheerily descend the hill; - Be welcome all, to come or go, - The ghosts we all can raise at will! - - -ENVOY - - Friend, sursum corda, soon and slow - We part like guests, who've joyed their fill; - Forget them not, nor mourn them so, - The ghosts we all can raise at will. - - ANDREW LANG - -_By permission of Longmans, Green, & Co., London, and Charles -Scribner's Sons, New York._ - - -Christmas Treasures - - I count my treasures o'er with care,-- - The little toy my darling knew, - A little sock of faded hue, - A little lock of golden hair. - - Long years ago this holy time, - My little one--my all to me-- - Sat robed in white upon my knee - And heard the merry Christmas chime. - - "Tell me, my little golden-head, - If Santa Claus should come to-night, - What shall he bring my baby bright,-- - What treasure for my boy?" I said. - - And then he named this little toy, - While in his round and mournful eyes - There came a look of sweet surprise, - That spake his quiet, trustful joy. - - And as he lisped his evening prayer - He asked the boon with childish grace, - Then, toddling to the chimney place, - He hung this little stocking there. - - That night, while lengthening shadows crept, - I saw the white-winged angels come - With singing to our lowly home - And kiss my darling as he slept. - - They must have heard his little prayer, - For in the morn, with rapturous face, - He toddled to the chimney-place, - And found this little treasure there. - - They came again one Christmas-tide,-- - That angel host, so fair and white! - And singing all that glorious night, - They lured my darling from my side. - - A little sock, a little toy, - A little lock of golden hair, - The Christmas music on the air, - A watching for my baby boy! - - But if again that angel train - And golden-head come back for me, - To bear me to Eternity, - My watching will not be in vain! - -From _A Little Book of Western Verse_; copyright, 1889, by Eugene -Field; published by Charles Scribner's Sons - - -Wassailer's Song - - Wassail! wassail! all over the town, - Our toast it is white, and our ale it is brown; - Our bowl is made of a maplin tree; - We be good fellows all;--I drink to thee. - - Here's to our horse, and to his right ear, - God send master a happy new year; - A happy new year as e'er he did see,-- - With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee. - - Here's to our mare, and to her right eye, - God send our mistress a good Christmas pie; - A good Christmas pie as e'er I did see,-- - With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee. - - Here's to our cow, and to her long tail, - God send our master us never may fail - Of a cup of good beer: I pray you draw near, - And our jolly wassail it's then you shall hear. - - Be here any maids? I suppose here be some; - Sure they will not let young men stand on the cold stone! - Sing hey O, maids! come trole back the pin, - And the fairest maid in the house let us all in. - - Come, butler, come, bring us a bowl of the best; - I hope your sould in heaven will rest; - But if you do bring us a bowl of the small, - Then down fall butler, and bowl and all. - - ROBERT SOUTHWELL - - - - -VI - -CHRISTMAS HYMNS - -[Illustration: CHRISTMAS HYMNS] - - A Hymn on the Nativity - While Shepherds Watched - O, Little Town of Bethlehem - The First, Best Christmas Night - It Came upon the Midnight Clear - A Christmas Hymn - The Song of the Shepherds - A Christmas Hymn - A Christmas Hymn for Children - Slumber-Songs of the Madonna - -[Illustration] - - Hark! the herald angels sing, - "Glory to the new-born King! - Peace on earth, and mercy mild; - God and sinners reconciled." - - CHARLES WESLEY - - -A Hymn on the Nativity - - I sing the birth was born to-night, - The author both of life and light; - The angels so did sound it. - And like the ravished shepherds said, - Who saw the light, and were afraid, - Yet searched, and true they found it. - - The Son of God, th' Eternal King, - That did us all salvation bring, - And freed the soul from danger; - He whom the whole world could not take, - The Word, which heaven and earth did make, - Was now laid in a manger. - - The Father's wisdom willed it so, - The Son's obedience knew no No, - Both wills were in one stature; - And as that wisdom had decreed, - The Word was now made Flesh indeed, - And took on Him our nature. - - What comfort by Him do we win, - Who made Himself the price of sin, - To make us heirs of Glory! - To see this babe, all innocence, - A martyr born in our defence: - Can man forget this story? - - BEN JONSON - - -While Shepherds Watched - - While shepherds watch'd their flocks by night, - All seated on the ground, - The Angel of the Lord came down, - And glory shone around. - - "Fear not," said he (for mighty dread - Had seized their troubled mind); - "Glad tidings of great joy I bring - To you and all mankind. - - "To you in David's town this day - Is born of David's line - The Saviour, who is Christ the Lord; - And this shall be the sign: - - "The heavenly Babe you there shall find - To human view display'd, - All meanly wrapt in swathing-bands, - And in a manger laid." - - Thus spake the seraph; and forthwith - Appear'd a shining throng - Of angels praising God, and thus - Address'd their joyful song: - - "All glory be to God on high, - And to the earth be peace; - Good-will henceforth from heaven to men - Begin, and never cease!" - - NAHUM TATE - - -O, Little Town of Bethlehem - - O, little town of Bethlehem, - How still we see thee lie! - Above thy deep and dreamless sleep - The silent stars go by; - Yet in thy dark streets shineth - The everlasting light; - The hopes and fears of all the years - Are met in thee to-night. - - For Christ is born of Mary; - And gathered all above, - While mortals sleep, the angels keep - Their watch of wondering love! - O, morning stars, together - Proclaim the holy birth! - And praises sing to God the King, - And peace to men on earth. - - How silently, how silently, - The wondrous gift is given! - So God imparts to human hearts - The blessings of His heaven. - No ear may hear His coming, - But in this world of sin, - Where meek souls will receive Him still, - The dear Christ enters in. - - O, holy Child of Bethlehem! - Descend to us, we pray! - Cast out our sin, and enter in, - Be born to us to-day. - We hear the Christmas angels - The great, glad tidings tell; - O, come to us, abide with us, - Our Lord Emmanuel. - - PHILLIPS BROOKS - - -The First, Best Christmas Night - - Like small curled feathers, white and soft, - The little clouds went by, - Across the moon, and past the stars, - And down the western sky: - In upland pastures, where the grass - With frosted dew was white, - Like snowy clouds the young sheep lay, - That first, best Christmas night. - - The shepherds slept; and, glimmering faint, - With twist of thin, blue smoke, - Only their fire's cracking flames - The tender silence broke-- - Save when a young lamb raised his head, - Or, when the night wind blew, - A nesting bird would softly stir, - Where dusky olives grew-- - - With finger on her solemn lip, - Night hushed the shadowy earth, - And only stars and angels saw - The little Saviour's birth; - Then came such flash of silver light - Across the bending skies, - The wondering shepherds woke, and hid - Their frightened, dazzled eyes! - - And all their gentle sleepy flock - Looked up, then slept again, - Nor knew the light that dimmed the stars - Brought endless peace to men-- - Nor even heard the gracious words - That down the ages ring-- - "The Christ is born! the Lord has come, - Good-will on earth to bring!" - - Then o'er the moonlit, misty fields, - Dumb with the world's great joy, - The shepherds sought the white-walled town, - Where lay the baby boy-- - And oh, the gladness of the world, - The glory of the skies, - Because the longed-for Christ looked up - In Mary's happy eyes! - - MARGARET DELAND in _The Old Garden and Other Verses_ - - _By permission of Houghton Mifflin Company_ - - -It Came upon the Midnight Clear - - It came upon the midnight clear, - That glorious song of old, - From angels bending near the earth - To touch their harps of gold: - Peace to the earth, good-will to men, - From heaven's all gracious King. - The world in solemn stillness lay - To hear the angels sing. - - Still through the cloven skies they come, - With peaceful wings unfurled; - And still their heavenly music floats - O'er all the weary world: - Above its sad and lowly plains - They bend on hovering wing, - And ever o'er its Babel-sounds - The blessed angels sing. - - Yet with the woes of sin and strife - The world has suffered long. - Beneath the angel-strain have rolled - Two thousand years of wrong; - And man at war with man hears not - The love-song that they bring; - Oh, hush the noise, ye men of strife, - And hear the angels sing. - - O ye beneath life's crushing load, - Whose forms are bending low, - Who toil along the climbing way, - With painful steps and slow, - Look now! for glad and golden hours - Come swiftly on the wing: - Oh, rest beside the weary road, - And hear the angels sing. - - For lo! the days are hastening on, - By prophet bards foretold, - When with the ever-circling years - Comes round the age of gold; - When peace shall over all the earth - Its ancient splendours fling, - And the whole world send back the song - Which now the angels sing. - - EDMUND HAMILTON SEARS - - -A Christmas Hymn - - Sing, Christmas bells! - Say to the earth this is the morn - Whereon our Saviour-King is born; - Sing to all men,--the bond, the free, - The rich, the poor, the high, the low, - The little child that sports in glee, - The aged folk that tottering go,-- - Proclaim the morn - That Christ is born, - That saveth them and saveth me! - - Sing, angel host! - Sing of the star that God has placed - Above the manger in the east; - Sing of the glories of the night, - The Virgin's sweet humility, - The Babe with kingly robes bedight,-- - Sing to all men where'er they be - This Christmas morn; - For Christ is born, - That saveth them and saveth me. - - Sing, sons of earth! - O ransomed seed of Adam, sing! - God liveth, and we have a king! - The curse is gone, the bond are free,-- - By Bethlehem's star that brightly beamed, - By all the heavenly signs that be, - We know that Israel is redeemed; - That on this morn - The Christ is born - That saveth you and saveth me! - - Sing, O my heart! - Sing thou in rapture this dear morn - Whereon the blessed Prince is born! - And as thy songs shall be of love, - So let my deeds be charity,-- - By the dear Lord that reigns above, - By Him that died upon the tree, - By this fair morn - Whereon is born - The Christ that saveth all and me! - - From _A Little Book of Western Verse_; copyright, 1889, by Eugene - Field; published by Charles Scribner's Sons - - -The Song of the Shepherds - - It was near the first cock-crowing, - And Orion's wheel was going, - When an angel stood before us and our hearts were sore afraid. - Lo! his face was like the lightning, - When the walls of heaven are whitening, - And he brought us wondrous tidings of a joy that should not fade. - - Then a Splendor shone around us, - In a still field where he found us, - A-watch upon the Shepherd Tower and waiting for the light; - There where David, as a stripling, - Saw the ewes and lambs go rippling - Down the little hills and hollows at the falling of the night. - - Oh, what tender, sudden faces - Filled the old familiar places, - The barley-fields, where Ruth of old went gleaning with the birds. - Down the skies the host came swirling, - Like sea-waters white and whirling, - And our hearts were strangely shaken by the wonder of their words. - - Haste, O people: all are bidden-- - Haste from places high or hidden: - In Mary's Child the Kingdom comes, the heaven in beauty bends! - He has made all life completer, - He has made the Plain Way sweeter, - For the stall is His first shelter, and the cattle His first friends. - - He has come! the skies are telling: - He has quit the glorious dwelling; - And first the tidings came to us, the humble shepherd folk. - He has come to field and manger, - And no more is God a Stranger: - He comes as Common Man at home with cart and crookèd yoke. - - As the shadow of a cedar - To a traveler in gray Kedar - Will be the kingdom of His love, the kingdom without end. - Tongue and ages may disclaim Him, - Yet the Heaven of heavens will name Him - Lord of prophets, Light of nations, elder Brother, tender Friend. - - EDWIN MARKHAM in _Lincoln and Other Poems_ - - _By permission_ - - -A Christmas Hymn - - Tell me what is this innumerable throng - Singing in the heavens a loud angelic song? - _These are they who come with swift and shining feet - From round about the throne of God the Lord of Light to greet._ - - O, who are these that hasten beneath the starry sky, - As if with joyful tidings that through the world shall fly? - _The faithful shepherds these, who greatly were afeared - When, as they watched their flocks by night, the heavenly host - appeared._ - - Who are these that follow across the hills of night - A star that westward hurries along the fields of light? - _Three wise men from the east who myrrh and treasure bring - To lay them at the feet of him, their Lord and Christ and King._ - - What babe new-born is this that in a manger cries? - Near on her bed of pain his happy mother lies. - _O, see! the air is shaken with white and heavenly wings-- - This is the Lord of all the earth, this is the King of kings._ - - Tell me, how may I join in this holy feast - With all the kneeling world, and I of all the least? - _Fear not, O faithful heart, but bring what most is meet; - Bring love alone, true love alone, and lay it at his feet._ - - RICHARD WATSON GILDER - - _By permission of Houghton Mifflin Company_ - -[Illustration: THE MADONNA. _Murillo._] - - -A Christmas Hymn for Children - - Our bells ring to all the earth, - _In excelsis gloria!_ - But none for Thee made chimes of mirth - On that great morning of Thy birth. - - Our coats they lack not silk nor fur, - _In excelsis gloria!_ - Not such Thy Blessed Mother's were; - Full simple garments covered Her. - - Our churches rise up goodly high, - _In excelsis gloria!_ - Low in a stall Thyself did lie, - With hornèd oxen standing by. - - Incense we breathe and scent of wine, - _In excelsis gloria!_ - Around Thee rose the breath of kine, - Thy only drink Her breast Divine. - - We take us to a happy tree, - _In excelsis gloria!_ - The seed was sown that day for Thee - That blossomed out of Calvary. - - Teach us to feed Thy poor with meat, - _In excelsis gloria!_ - Who turnest not when we entreat, - Who givest us Thy Bread to eat. - - _Amen._ - - From the volume of _Poems_ by JOSEPHINE DASKAM BACON - - _By permission of Charles Scribner's Sons_ - - -Slumber-Songs of the Madonna - -PRELUDE - - Dante saw the great white Rose - Half unclose; - Dante saw the golden bees - Gathering from its heart of gold - Sweets untold, - Love's most honeyed harmonies. - - Dante saw the threefold bow - Strangely glow, - Saw the Rainbow Vision rise, - And the Flame that wore the crown - Bending down - O'er the flowers of Paradise. - - Something yet remained, it seems; - In his dreams - Dante missed--as angels may - In their white and burning bliss-- - Some small kiss - Mortals meet with every day. - - Italy in splendour faints - 'Neath her saints! - O, her great Madonnas, too, - Faces calm as any moon - Glows in June, - Hooded with the night's deep blue! - - What remains? I pass and hear - Everywhere, - Ay, or see in silent eyes - Just the song she still would sing. - Thus--a-swing - O'er the cradle where He lies. - - -I - - Sleep, little baby, I love thee; - Sleep, little king, I am bending above thee! - How should I know what to sing - Here in my arms as I swing thee to sleep? - Hushaby low, - Rockaby so, - Kings may have wonderful jewels to bring, - Mother has only a kiss for her king! - Why should my singing so make me to weep? - Only I know that I love thee, I love thee, - Love thee, my little one, sleep. - - -II - - _Is it a dream? Ah, yet it seems - Not the same as other dreams!_ - - I can but think that angels sang, - When thou wast born, in the starry sky, - And that their golden harps out-rang - While the silver clouds went by! - - The morning sun shuts out the stars, - Which are much loftier than the sun; - But, could we burst our prison-bars - And find the Light whence light begun, - The dreams that heralded thy birth - Were truer than the truths of earth; - And, by that far immortal Gleam, - Soul of my soul, I still would dream! - - A ring of light was round thy head, - The great-eyed oxen nigh thy bed - Their cold and innocent noses bowed, - Their sweet breath rose like an incense cloud - In the blurred and mystic lanthorn light! - - About the middle of the night - The black door blazed like some great star - With a glory from afar, - Or like some mighty chrysolite - Wherein an angel stood with white - Blinding arrowy bladed wings - Before the throne of the King of kings; - And, through it, I could dimly see - A great steed tethered to a tree. - - Then, with crimson gems aflame - Through the door the three kings came, - And the black Ethiop unrolled - The richly broidered cloth of gold, - And pourèd forth before thee there - Gold and frankincense and myrrh! - - -III - - See, what a wonderful smile! Does it mean - That my little one knows of my love? - Was it meant for an angel that passed unseen, - And smiled at us both from above? - Does it mean that he knows of the birds and the flowers - That are waiting to sweeten his childhood's hours, - And the tales I shall tell and the games he will play, - And the songs we shall sing and the prayers we shall pray - In his boyhood's May, - He and I, one day? - - -IV - - All in the warm blue summer weather - We shall laugh and love together: - I shall watch my baby growing, - I shall guide his feet, - When the orange trees are blowing, - And the winds are heavy and sweet! - When the orange orchards whiten - I shall see his great eyes brighten - To watch the long-legged camels going - Up the twisted street, - When the orange trees are blowing, - And the winds are sweet. - - _What does it mean? Indeed, it seems - A dream! Yet not like other dreams!_ - - We shall walk in pleasant vales, - Listening to the shepherd's song, - I shall tell him lovely tales - All day long: - He shall laugh while mother sings - Tales of fishermen and kings. - - He shall see them come and go - O'er the wistful sea, - Where rosy oleanders blow - Round blue Lake Galilee, - Kings with fishers' ragged coats - And silver nets across their boats - Dipping through the starry glow, - With crowns for him and me! - Ah, no; - Crowns for him, not me! - - _Rockaby so! Indeed, it seems - A dream! Yet not like other dreams!_ - - -V - - Ah, see what a wonderful smile again! - Shall I hide it away in my heart, - To remember one day in a world of pain - When the years have torn us apart, - Little babe, - When the years have torn us apart? - - Sleep, my little one, sleep, - Child with the wonderful eyes, - Wild miraculous eyes, - Deep as the skies are deep! - What star-bright glory of tears - Waits in you now for the years - That shall bid you waken and weep? - Ah, in that day, could I kiss you to sleep - Then, little lips, little eyes, - Little lips that are lovely and wise, - Little lips that are dreadful and wise! - - -VI - - Clenched little hands like crumpled roses, - Dimpled and dear, - Feet like flowers that the dawn uncloses, - What do I fear? - Little hands, will you ever be clenched in anguish? - White little limbs, will you droop and languish? - Nay, what do I hear? - I hear a shouting, far away, - You shall ride on a kingly palm-strewn way - Some day! - - But when you are crowned with a golden crown - And throned on a golden throne, - You'll forget the manger of Bethlehem town - And your mother that sits alone - Wondering whether the mighty king - Remembers a song she used to sing, - Long ago,-- - "_Rockaby so, - Kings may have wonderful jewels to bring, - Mother has only a kiss for her king!_"... - - Ah, see what a wonderful smile, once more! - He opens his great dark eyes! - Little child, little king, nay, hush, it is o'er, - My fear of those deep twin skies,-- - Little child, - You are all too dreadful and wise! - - -VII - - But now you are mine, all mine, - And your feet can lie in my hand so small, - And your tiny hands in my heart can twine, - And you cannot walk, so you never shall fall, - Or be pierced by the thorns beside the door, - Or the nails that lie upon Joseph's floor; - Through sun and rain, through shadow and shine, - You are mine, all mine! - - ALFRED NOYES in _The Golden Hynde_ - - Copyrighted by Messrs. Blackwood in _Forty Singing Seamen_ - - - - -VII - -CHRISTMAS REVELS - -[Illustration: CHRISTMAS REVELS] - - Make me merry both more and less - The Feast of Saint Stephen in Venice - The Feast of Fools - The Feast of the Ass - The Revel of Sir Hugonin de Guisay, 1393 - Revels of the Inner Temple--Inns of Court - King Witlaf's Drinking-Horn - Old Christmastide - Christmas Games in "Old Wardle's" Kitchen - A "Mystery" as performed in Mexico - -[Illustration] - - - _Make me merry both more and less, - For now is the time of Christymas!_ - - Let no man come into this hall, - Groom, page, not yet marshall, - But that some sport he bring withal! - _For now is the time of Christmas!_ - - If that he say, he cannot sing, - Some other sport then let him bring! - That it may please at this feasting! - _For now is the time of Christmas!_ - - If he say he can naught do, - Then for my love ask him no mo! - But to the stocks then let him go! - _For now is the time of Christmas!_ - - _From a Balliol MS. of about 1540_ - - -The Feast of Saint Stephen in Venice - -The Doge's banquets especially took the importance of public -spectacles, and were always five in number, given at the feasts of -Saint Mark, the Ascension, Saint Vitus, Saint Jerome, and Saint -Stephen, after the last of which the distribution of the 'oselle' took -place, representing the ducks of earlier days, as the reader will -remember. At these great dinners there were generally a hundred guests; -the Doge's counsellors, the Heads of the Ten, the Avogadors and the -heads of all the other magistracies had a right to be invited, but the -rest of the guests were chosen among the functionaries at the Doge's -pleasure. - -In the banquet-hall there were a number of side-boards on which was -exhibited the silver, part of which belonged to the Doge and part to -the State, and this was shown twenty-four hours before the feast. It -was under the keeping of a special official. The glass service used on -the table for flowers and for dessert was of the finest made in Murano. -Each service, though this is hard to believe, is said to have been used -in public only once, and was designed to recall some important event of -contemporary history by trophies, victories, emblems, and allegories. -I find this stated by Giustina Renier Michiel, who was a contemporary, -was noble, and must have often seen these banquets. - -The public was admitted to view the magnificent spectacle during the -whole of the first course, and the ladies of the aristocracy went in -great numbers. It was their custom to walk round the tables, talking -with those of their friends who sat among the guests, and accepting the -fruits and sweetmeats which the Doge and the rest offered them, rising -from their seats to do so. The Doge himself rose from his throne to -salute those noble ladies whom he wished to distinguish especially. -Sovereigns passing through Venice at such times did not disdain to -appear as mere spectators at the banquets, which had acquired the -importance of national anniversaries. - -Between the first and second courses, a majestic chamberlain shook a -huge bunch of keys while he walked round the hall, and at this hint -all visitors disappeared. The feast sometimes lasted several hours, -after which the Doge's squires presented each of the guests with a -great basket filled with sweetmeats, fruits, comfits, and the like, and -adorned with the ducal arms. Every one rose to thank the Doge for these -presents, and he took advantage of the general move to go back to his -private apartments. The guests accompanied him to the threshold, where -his Serenity bowed to them without speaking, and every one returned his -salute in silence. He disappeared within, and all went home. - -During this ceremony of leave-taking, the gondoliers of the guests -entered the hall of the banquet and each carried the basket received -by his master to some lady indicated by the latter. "One may imagine," -cries the good Dame Michiel, "what curiosity there was about the -destination of the baskets, but the faithful gondoliers regarded -mystery as a point of honour, though the basket was of such dimensions -that it was impossible to take it anywhere unobserved; happy were they -who received these evidences of a regard which at once touched their -feelings and flattered their legitimate pride! The greatest misfortune -was to have to share the prize with another." - - F. MARION CRAWFORD in _Salve Venetia!_ - - -The Feast of Fools - -Beletus, who lived in 1182, mentions the Feast of Fools, as celebrated -in some places on New Year's day, in others on Twelfth Night and in -still others the week following. It seems at any rate to have been -one of the recognized revels of the Christmas season. In France, at -different cathedral churches there was a Bishop or an Archbishop of -Fools elected, and in the churches immediately dependent upon the papal -see a Pope of Fools. - -These mock pontiffs had usually a proper suite of ecclesiastics, and -one of their ridiculous ceremonies was to shave the Precentor of Fools -upon a stage erected before the church in the presence of the jeering -"vulgar populace." - -They were mostly attired in the ridiculous dresses of pantomime players -and buffoons, and so habited entered the church, and performed the -ceremony accompanied by crowds of followers representing monsters -or so disguised as to excite fear or laughter. During this mockery -of a divine service they sang indecent songs in the choir, ate rich -puddings on the corner of the altar, played at dice upon it during the -celebration of a mass, incensed it with smoke from old burnt shoes, and -ran leaping all over the church. The Bishop or Pope of Fools performed -the service and gave benediction, dressed in pontifical robes. When it -was concluded he was seated in an open carriage and drawn about the -town followed by his train, who in place of carnival confetti threw -filth from a cart upon the people who crowded to see the procession. - -These "December liberties," as they were called, were always held at -Christmas time or near it, but were not confined to one particular day, -and seem to have lasted through the chief part of January. When the -ceremony took place upon St. Stephen's Day, they said as part of the -mass a burlesque composition, called the Fool's Prose, and upon the -festival of St. John the Evangelist, they had another arrangement of -ludicrous songs, called the Prose of the Ox. - - WILLIAM HONE in _Ancient Mysteries_ - - -The Feast of the Ass - -As this was anciently celebrated in France, it almost entirely -consisted of dramatic show. It was instituted in honor of Balaam's ass, -and at one of them the clergy walked on Christmas Day in procession, -habited to represent the prophets and others. - -Moses appeared in an alb and cope with a long beard and a rod. David -had a green vestment. Balaam, with an immense pair of spurs, rode on -a wooden ass which enclosed a speaker. There were also six Jews and -six Gentiles. Among other characters, the poet Virgil was introduced -singing monkish rhymes, as a Gentile prophet, and a translator of the -sibylline oracles. They thus moved in a procession through the body -of the church chanting versicles, and conversing in character on the -nativity and kingdom of Christ till they came into the choir. - -This service, as performed in the cathedral at Rouen, commenced with -a procession in which the clergy represented the prophets of the -Old Testament who foretold the birth of Christ; then followed Balaam -mounted on his ass, Zacharias, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, the sibyl, -Erythree, Simeon, Virgil, Nebuchadnezzar, and the three children in the -furnace. After the procession entered the cathedral, several groups -of persons performed the parts of Jews and Gentiles, to whom the -choristers addressed speeches; afterwards they called on the prophets -one by one, who came forward successively and delivered a passage -relative to the Messiah. The other characters advanced to occupy their -proper situations, and reply in certain verses to the questions of the -choristers. They performed the miracle of the furnace; Nebuchadnezzar -spoke, the sibyl appeared at the last, and then an anthem was sung, -which concluded the ceremony. - -The Missal of an Archbishop of Sens indicates that during such a -service, the animal itself, clad with precious priestly ornaments, was -solemnly conducted to the middle of the choir, during which procession -a hymn in praise of the ass was sung--ending with-- - - Amen! bray, most honour'd Ass, - Sated now with grain and grass: - Amen repeat, Amen reply, - And disregard antiquity. - _Hez va! hez va! hez va! hez!_ - -The service lasted the whole of a night and part of the next day, and -formed altogether the strangest, most ridiculous medley of whatever -was usually sung at church festivals. When the choristers were thirsty -wine was distributed; in the evening, on a platform before the church, -lit by an enormous lantern, the grand chanter of Sens led a jolly band -in performing broadly indecorous interludes. At respective divisions -of the service the ass was supplied with drink and provender. In -the middle of it, at the signal of a certain anthem, the ass being -conducted into the nave of the church, the people mixed with the clergy -danced around him, imitating his braying. - - WILLIAM HONE in _Ancient Mysteries_ - - -The Revel of Sir Hugonin de Guisay - -Memorable as an illustration of the manners of the French Court was -a catastrophe that occurred in Paris in 1393. Riot and disorder had -run wild all through the Christmas festivities. But the Court was not -yet satisfied. Then Sir Hugonin de Guisay, most reckless among all -the reckless spirits of the period, suggested that as an excuse for -prolonging the merriment a marriage should be arranged between two of -the court attendants. This was eagerly agreed upon. Sir Hugonin assumed -the leadership, for which he was well fitted. He was loved and admired -by the disorderly as much as he was hated and feared by the orderly. -Among other pleasant traits, he was fond of exercising his wit upon -tradesmen and mechanics, whom he would accost in the street, prick with -his spurs, and compel to creep on all fours and bark like curs before -he released them. Such traits endeared him to the courtiers of the -young Most Gracious Majesty and Christian King of France. The marriage -passed off in a blaze of glory and accompaniments of Gargantuan -pleasantry. At the height of the ceremonies Sir Hugonin quietly -withdrew with the king and four other wild ones, scions of the noblest -houses in France. With a pot of tar and a quantity of tow the six -conspirators were speedily changed into a very fair imitation of the -dancing bears then very common in mountebanks' booths. A mask completed -the transformation. Five were then bound together with a silken rope. -The sixth, the king himself, led them into the hall. - -Their appearance created a general stir. "Who are they?" was the cry. -Nobody knew. At this moment entered the wildest of all the wild Dukes -of Orleans. "Who are they?" he echoed between hiccoughs. "Well, we'll -soon find out." Seizing a brand from one of the torch bearers ranged -around the wall, he staggered forward. Some gentlemen essayed to stay -him. But he was obstinate and quarrelsome. Main force could not be -thought of against a prince of the blood. He was given his way. He -thrust his torch under the chin of the nearest of the maskers. The -tow caught fire. In a moment the whole group was in flames. The young -Duchess of Berri seized the king and enveloped him in her ample quilted -robe. Thus he was saved. Another masker, the Lord of Nanthouillet, -noted for strength and agility, rent the silken rope with a wrench of -his strong teeth, pitched himself like a flaming comet through the -first window, and dived into a cistern in the court, whence he emerged -black and smoking, but almost unhurt. As for the other four, they -whirled hither and thither through the horrified mob, struggling with -one another, fighting with the flames, cursing, shrieking with pain. -Women fainted by scores. Men who had never faltered in a hundred fights -sickened at the hideous spectacle. All Paris was roused by the uproar, -and gathered, an excited mob, about the palace. At last the flames -burnt out. The four maskers lay in a black and writhing heap upon the -floor. One was a mere cinder. A second survived until daybreak. A third -died at noon the next day. The fourth--none other than Sir Hugonin -himself--survived for three days, while all Paris rejoiced over his -agonies. "Bark, dog, bark," was the cry with which the citizens saluted -his charred and mangled corpse, when it was at last borne to the grave. - - W. S. WALSH in _Curiosities of Popular Customs_ - - -Revels of the Inner Temple--Inns of Court - -On St. Stephen's Day, after the first course was served in, the -constable marshal was wont to enter the hall (and we think he had much -better have come in, and said all he had to say beforehand) bravely -arrayed with "a fair rich compleat harneys, white and bright and -gilt, with a nest of fethers, of all colours, upon his crest or helm, -and a gilt pole ax in his hand," and, no doubt, thinking himself a -prodigiously fine fellow. He was accompanied by the lieutenant of the -Tower, "armed with a fair white armour," also wearing "fethers," and -"with a pole ax in his hand," and of course also thinking himself a -very fine fellow. With them came sixteen trumpeters, preceded by four -drums and fifes, and attended by four men clad in white "harneys," -from the middle upwards, having halberds in their hands, and bearing -on their shoulders a model of the Tower, and each and every one of -these latter personages, in his degree, having a consciousness that he, -too, was a fine fellow. Then all these fine fellows, with the drums -and music, and with all their "fethers" and finery, went three times -round the fire, whereas, considering that the boar's head was cooling -all the time, we think once might have sufficed. Then the constable -marshal, after three courtesies, knelt down before the Lord Chancellor, -with the lieutenant doing the same behind him, and then and there -deliberately proceeded to deliver himself of an "oration of a quarter -of an hour's length," the purport of which was to tender his services -to the Lord Chancellor, which, we think, at such a time, he might have -contrived to do in fewer words. To this the Chancellor was unwise -enough to reply that he would "take farther advice therein," when it -would have been much better for him to settle the matter at once, and -proceed to eat his dinner. However, this part of the ceremony ended -at last by the constable marshal and the lieutenant obtaining seats -at the Chancellor's table, upon the former giving up his sword; and -then enter, for a similar purpose, the master of the game, apparelled -in green velvet, and the ranger of the forest, in a green suit of -"satten," bearing in his hand a green bow, and "divers" arrows, "with -either of them a hunting-horn about their necks, blowing together three -blasts of venery." These worthies, also, thought it necessary to parade -their finery three times around the fire; and having then made similar -obeisances, and offered up a similar petition in a similar posture, -they were finally inducted into a similar privilege. - -But though seated at the Chancellor's table, and no doubt sufficiently -roused by the steam of its good things, they were far enough as yet -from getting anything to eat, as a consequence; and the next ceremony -is one which strikingly marks the rudeness of the times. "A huntsman -cometh into the hall, with a fox, and a purse-net with a cat, both -bound at the end of a staff, and with them nine or ten couple of -hounds, with the blowing of hunting-horns. And the fox and the cat -are set upon by the hounds, and killed beneath the fire." "What this -'merry disport' signified (if practised) before the Reformation," says -a writer in Mr. Hone's Year Book, "I know not. In 'Ane compendious boke -of godly and spiritual songs, Edinburgh, 1621, printed from an old -copy,' are the following lines, seemingly referring to some pageant:-- - - 'The hunter is Christ that hunts in haist, - The hunds are Peter and Pawle, - The paip is the fox, Rome is the Rox - That rubbis us on the gall.'" - -After these ceremonies, the welcome permission to betake themselves to -the far more interesting one of an attack upon the good things of the -feast appears to have been at length given; but at the close of the -second course the subject of receiving the officers who had tendered -their Christmas service was renewed. Whether the gentlemen of the law -were burlesquing their own profession intentionally or whether it was -an awkward hit, like that which befell their brethren of Gray's Inn, -does not appear. However the common serjeant made what is called "a -plausible speech," insisting on the necessity of these officers "for -the better reputation of the Commonwealth;" and he was followed, to the -same effect, by the King's serjeant-at-law till the Lord Chancellor -silenced them by desiring a respite of further advice, which it is -greatly to be marvelled he had not done sooner. - -And thereupon he called upon the "ancientest of the masters of the -revels" for a song,--a proceeding to which we give our unqualified -approbation. - - T. K. HERVEY - - -King Witlaf's Drinking-Horn - - Witlaf, a king of the Saxons, - Ere yet his last he breathed, - To the merry monks of Croyland - His drinking-horn bequeathed,-- - - That, whenever they sat at their revels, - And drank from the golden bowl, - They might remember the donor, - And breathe a prayer for his soul. - - So sat they once at Christmas, - And bade the goblet pass; - In their beards the red wine glistened - Like dew-drops in the grass. - - They drank to the soul of Witlaf, - They drank to Christ the Lord, - And to each of the Twelve Apostles, - Who had preached His holy word. - - They drank to the Saints and Martyrs - Of the dismal days of yore, - And as soon as the horn was empty - They remembered one Saint more. - - And the reader droned from the pulpit, - Like the murmur of many bees, - The legend of good Saint Guthlac, - And Saint Basil's homilies; - - Till the great bells of the convent, - From their prison in the tower, - Guthlac and Bartholomæus, - Proclaimed the midnight hour. - - And the Yule-log cracked in the chimney - And the Abbot bowed his head, - And the flamelets flapped and flickered - But the Abbot was stark and dead. - - Yet still in his pallid fingers - He clutched the golden bowl, - In which, like a pearl dissolving, - Had sunk and dissolved his soul. - - But not for this their revels - The jovial monks forbore, - For they cried, "Fill high the goblet! - We must drink to one Saint more." - - HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW - - -Old Christmastide - - Heap on more wood!--the wind is chill; - But let it whistle as it will, - We'll keep our Christmas merry still. - Each age has deemed the new-born year - The fittest time for festal cheer. - Even heathen yet, the savage Dane - At Iol more deep the mead did drain; - High on the beach his galley drew, - And feasted all his pirate crew; - Then in his low and pine-built hall, - Where shields and axes decked the wall, - They gorged upon the half-dressed steer; - Caroused in seas of sable beer; - While round, in brutal jest, were thrown - The half-gnawed rib and marrow-bone, - Or listened all, in grim delight, - While scalds yelled out the joy of fight, - Then forth in frenzy would they hie, - While wildly loose their red locks fly; - And, dancing round the blazing pile, - They make such barbarous mirth the while, - As best might to the mind recall - The boisterous joys of Odin's hall. - And well our Christian sires of old - Loved when the year its course had rolled, - And brought blithe Christmas back again, - With all his hospitable train. - Domestic and religious rite - Gave honour to the holy night: - On Christmas eve the bells were rung; - On Christmas eve the mass was sung; - That only night, in all the year, - Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear. - The damsel donned her kirtle sheen; - The hall was dressed with holly green; - Forth to the wood did merry men go, - To gather in the mistletoe; - Then opened wide the baron's hall - To vassal, tenant, serf, and all; - Power laid his rod of rule aside, - And ceremony doffed his pride. - The heir, with roses in his shoes, - That night might village partner choose; - The lord, underogating, share - The vulgar game of "post and pair." - All hailed, with uncontrolled delight, - And general voice, the happy night - That to the cottage, as the crown, - Brought tidings of salvation down. - The fire, with well-dried logs supplied, - Went roaring up the chimney wide; - The huge hall-table's oaken face, - Scrubbed till it shone, the day to grace, - Bore then upon its massive board - No mark to part the squire and lord. - Then was brought in the lusty brawn - By old blue-coated serving man; - Then the grim boar's head frowned on high, - Crested with bays and rosemary. - Well can the green-garbed ranger tell, - How, when, and where, the monster fell; - What dogs before his death he tore, - And all the baiting of the boar. - The Wassail round, in good brown bowls, - Garnished with ribbons, blithely trowls. - There the huge sirloin reeked; hard by - Plum-porridge stood, and Christmas pie; - Nor failed old Scotland to produce, - At such high tide, her savoury goose. - Then came the merry masquers in, - And carols roared with blithesome din; - If unmelodious was the song, - It was a hearty note, and strong, - Who lists may in their mumming see - Traces of ancient mystery; - White shirts supplied the masquerade, - And smutted cheeks the vizors made: - But, O! what masquers, richly dight, - Can boast of bosoms half so light! - England was merry England, when - Old Christmas brought his sports again. - 'Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale; - 'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale; - A Christmas gambol oft could cheer - The poor man's heart through half the year. - - SIR WALTER SCOTT - - -Christmas Games in "Old Wardle's" Kitchen - - [According to annual custom, on Christmas eve, observed by old - Wardle's forefathers from time immemorial.] - -From the centre 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 of confusion; in the midst of -which Mr. Pickwick, with a gallantry which would have done honour -to a descendant of Lady Tollimglower 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. - -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 round -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. - -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 for 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 snap-dragon, and when fingers enough were burned with -that, and all the raisins 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 wash-house copper, in which the hot -apples were hissing and bubbling with a rich look, and a jolly sound, -that were perfectly irresistible. - -"This," said Mr. Pickwick, looking round him, "this is, indeed, -comfort." - -"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." - -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. - -"Come," said Wardle, "a song--a Christmas song. I'll give you one, in -default of a better." - -"Bravo," said Mr. Pickwick. - -"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." - -Thus saying, the merry old gentleman, in a good, round, sturdy voice, -commenced without more ado-- - -A CHRISTMAS CAROL - - I care not for Spring; on his fickle wing - Let the blossoms and buds be borne: - He woos them amain with his treacherous rain, - And he scatters them ere the morn. - An inconstant elf, he knows not himself, - Or his own changing mind an hour, - He'll smile in your face, and with wry grimace, - He'll wither your youngest flower. - - Let the Summer sun to his bright home run, - He shall never be sought by me; - When he's dimmed by a cloud I can laugh aloud, - And care not how sulky he be; - For his darling child is the madness wild - That sports in fierce fever's train; - And when love is too strong, it don't last long, - As many have found to their pain. - - A mild harvest night, by the tranquil light - Of the modest and gentle moon, - Has a far sweeter sheen for me, I ween, - Than the broad and unblushing noon. - But every leaf awakens my grief, - As it lies beneath the tree; - So let Autumn air be never so fair, - It by no means agrees with me. - - But my song I troll out, for Christmas stout, - The hearty, the true, and the bold; - A bumper I drain, and with might and main - Give three cheers for this Christmas old. - We'll usher him in with a merry din - That shall gladden his joyous heart, - And we'll keep him up while there's bite or sup, - And in fellowship good, we'll part. - - In his fine honest pride, he scorns to hide - One jot of his hard-weather scars; - They're no disgrace, for there's much the same trace - On the cheeks of our bravest tars. - Then again I sing 'till the roof doth ring, - And it echoes from wall to wall-- - To the stout old wight, fair welcome to-night, - As the King of the Seasons all! - -This song was tumultuously applauded, for friends and dependents make -a capital audience; and the poor relations especially were in perfect -ecstasies of rapture. Again was the fire replenished, and again went -the wassail round. - - CHARLES DICKENS - - -A "Mystery" as performed in Mexico - -Against the wing-wall of the Hacienda del Mayo, which occupied one end -of the plaza, was raised a platform, on which stood a table covered -with scarlet cloth. A rude bower of cane-leaves, on one end of the -platform, represented the manger of Bethlehem; while a cord, stretched -from its top across the plaza to a hole in the front of the church, -bore a large tinsel star, suspended by a hole in its centre. There -was quite a crowd in the plaza, and very soon a procession appeared, -coming up from the lower part of the village. The three kings took the -lead; the Virgin, mounted on an ass that gloried in a gilded saddle -and rose-besprinkled mane and tail, followed them, led by the angel; -and several women, with curious masks of paper, brought up the rear. -Two characters, of the harlequin sort--one with a dog's head on his -shoulders, and the other a bald-headed friar, with a huge hat hanging -on his back--played all sorts of antics for the diversion of the -crowd. After making the circuit of the plaza, the Virgin was taken to -the platform, and entered the manger. King Herod took his seat at the -scarlet table, with an attendant in blue coat and red sash, whom I took -to be his Prime Minister. The three kings remained on their horses -in front of the church; but between them and the platform, under the -string on which the star was to slide, walked two men in long white -robes and blue hoods, with parchment folios in their hands. These were -the Wise Men of the East, as one might readily know from their solemn -air, and the mysterious glances which they cast towards all quarters of -the heavens. - -In a little while, a company of women on the platform, concealed behind -a curtain, sang an angelic chorus to the tune of 'Opescator dell' -onda.' At the proper moment, the Magi turned towards the platform, -followed by the star, to which a string was conveniently attached, that -it might be slid along the line. The three kings followed the star -till it reached the manger, when they dismounted, and inquired for the -sovereign, whom it had led them to visit. They were invited upon the -platform, and introduced to Herod, as the only king; this did not seem -to satisfy them, and, after some conversation, they retired. By this -time the star had receded to the other end of the line, and commenced -moving forward again, they following. The angel called them into the -manger, where, upon their knees, they were shown a small wooden box, -supposed to contain the sacred infant; they then retired, and the star -brought them back no more. After this departure, King Herod declared -himself greatly confused by what he had witnessed, and was very much -afraid this newly found king would weaken his power. Upon consultation -with his Prime Minister, the Massacre of the Innocents was decided -upon, as the only means of security. - -[Illustration: THE HOLY NIGHT. _Von Uhde._] - -The angel, on hearing this, gave warning to the Virgin, who quickly got -down from the platform, mounted her bespangled donkey, and hurried off. -Herod's Prime Minister directed all the children to be handed up for -execution. A boy, in a ragged sarape, was caught and thrust forward; -the Minister took him by the heels in spite of his kicking, and held -his head on the table. The little brother and sister of the boy, -thinking he was really to be decapitated, yelled at the top of their -voices, in an agony of terror, which threw the crowd into a roar of -laughter. King Herod brought down his sword with a whack on the table, -and the Prime Minister, dipping his brush into a pot of white paint -which stood before him, made a flaring cross on the boy's face. Several -other boys were caught and served likewise; and, finally, the two -harlequins, whose kicks and struggles nearly shook down the platform. -The procession then went off up the hill, followed by the whole -population of the village. All the evening there were fandangoes in the -méson, bonfires and rockets on the plaza, ringing of bells, and high -mass in the church, with the accompaniment of two guitars, tinkling to -lively polkas. - - BAYARD TAYLOR in _Eldorado_ - - - - -VIII - -WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS KIN - -[Illustration: WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS KIN] - - Christmas - Christmas Night of '62 - Merry Christmas in the Tenements - Christmas at Sea - The First Christmas Tree in the Legation Compound, at Tokyo, Japan - Christmas in India - A Belgian Christmas Eve Procession - Christmas at the Cape - The "Good Night" in Spain - Christmas in Rome - Christmas in Burgundy - Christmas in Germany - Christmas Dinner in a Clipper's Fo'c'sle - Christmas in Jail - Colonel Carter's Christmas Tree - -[Illustration] - - -But Christmas is not only the mile-mark of another year, moving -us to thoughts of self-examination,--it is a season, from all its -associations, whether domestic or religious, suggesting thoughts of -joy. A man dissatisfied with his endeavors is a man tempted to sadness. -And in the midst of winter, when his life runs lowest and he is -reminded of the empty chairs of his beloved, it is well that he should -be condemned to this fashion of the smiling face. - - ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON - - -Christmas Night of '62 - - The wintry blast goes wailing by, - The snow is falling overhead; - I hear the lonely sentry's tread, - And distant watch-fires light the sky. - - Dim forms go flitting through the gloom; - The soldiers cluster round the blaze - To talk of other Christmas days, - And softly speak of home and home. - - My sabre swinging overhead, - Gleams in the watch-fire's fitful glow, - While fiercely drives the blinding snow, - And memory leads me to the dead. - - My thoughts go wandering to and fro, - Vibrating 'twixt the Now and Then; - I see the low-browed home agen, - The old hall wreathed with mistletoe. - - And sweetly from the far off years - Comes borne the laughter faint and low, - The voices of the Long Ago! - My eyes are wet with tender tears. - - I feel agen the mother kiss, - I see agen the glad surprise - That lighted up the tranquil eyes - And brimmed them o'er with tears of bliss, - - As, rushing from the old hall-door, - She fondly clasped her wayward boy-- - Her face all radiant with the joy - She felt to see him home once more. - - My sabre swinging on the bough - Gleams in the watch-fire's fitful glow, - While fiercely drives the blinding snow - Aslant upon my saddened brow. - - Those cherished faces all are gone! - Asleep within the quiet graves - Where lies the snow in drifting waves,-- - And I am sitting here alone. - - There's not a comrade here to-night - But knows that loved ones far away - On bended knees this night will pray: - "God bring our darling from the fight." - - But there are none to wish me back, - For me no yearning prayers arise. - The lips are mute and closed the eyes-- - My home is in the bivouac. - - In the Army of Northern Virginia. - - WILLIAM G. MCCABE - -Quoted from W. P. Trent's _Southern Writers_ - - -Merry Christmas in the Tenements - -It was just a sprig of holly, with scarlet berries showing against the -green, stuck in, by one of the office boys probably, behind the sign -that pointed the way up to the editorial rooms. There was no reason -why it should have made me start when I came suddenly upon it at the -turn of the stairs; but it did. Perhaps it was because that dingy hall, -given over to dust and draughts all the days of the year, was the last -place in which I expected to meet with any sign of Christmas; perhaps -it was because I myself had nearly forgotten the holiday. Whatever the -cause, it gave me quite a turn. - -I stood, and stared at it. It looked dry, almost withered. Probably it -had come a long way. Not much holly grows about Printing-House Square, -except in the colored supplements, and that is scarcely of a kind to -stir tender memories. Withered and dry, this did. I thought, with a -twinge of conscience, of secret little conclaves of my children, of -private views of things hidden from mamma at the bottom of drawers, -of wild flights when papa appeared unbidden in the door, which I had -allowed for once to pass unheeded. Absorbed in the business of the -office, I had hardly thought of Christmas coming on, until now it was -here. And this sprig of holly on the wall that had come to remind -me,--come nobody knew how far,--did it grow yet in the beechwood -clearings, as it did when I gathered it as a boy, tracking through -the snow? "Christ-thorn" we called it in our Danish tongue. The red -berries, to our simple faith, were the drops of blood that fell from -the Saviour's brow as it dropped under its cruel crown upon the -cross.... - - * * * * * - -The lights of the Bowery glow like a myriad twinkling stars upon -the ceaseless flood of humanity that surges ever through the great -highway of the homeless. They shine upon long rows of lodging-houses, -in which hundreds of young men, cast helpless upon the reef of the -strange city, are learning their first lessons of utter loneliness; -for what desolation is there like that of the careless crowd when all -the world rejoices? They shine upon the tempter setting his snares -there, and upon the missionary and the Salvation Army lass, disputing -his catch with him; upon the police detective going his rounds with -coldly observant eye intent upon the outcome of the contest; upon -the wreck that is past hope, and upon the youth pausing on the verge -of the pit in which the other has long ceased to struggle. Sights -and sounds of Christmas there are in plenty in the Bowery. Balsam -and hemlock and fir stand in groves along the busy thoroughfare, and -garlands of green embower mission and dive impartially. Once a year -the old street recalls its youth with an effort. It is true that it -is largely a commercial effort; that the evergreen, with an instinct -that is not of its native hills, haunts saloon-corners by preference; -but the smell of the pine woods is in the air, and--Christmas is not -too critical--one is grateful for the effort. It varies with the -opportunity. At "Beefsteak John's" it is content with artistically -embalming crullers and mince-pies in green cabbage under the window -lamp. Over yonder, where the mile-post of the old lane still -stands,--in its unhonored old age become the vehicle of publishing the -latest "sure cure" to the world,--a florist, whose undenominational -zeal for the holiday and trade outstrips alike distinction of creed and -property, has transformed the sidewalk and the ugly railroad structure -into a veritable bower, spanning it with a canopy of green, under which -dwell with him, in neighborly good-will, the Young Men's Christian -Association and the Jewish tailor next door.... - -Down at the foot of the Bowery is the "panhandlers' beat," where the -saloons elbow one another at every step, crowding out all other -business than that of keeping lodgers to support them. Within call of -it, across the square, stands a church which, in the memory of men -yet living, was built to shelter the fashionable Baptist audiences -of a day when Madison Square was out in the fields, and Harlem had a -foreign sound. The fashionable audiences are gone long since. To-day -the church, fallen into premature decay, but still handsome in its -strong and noble lines, stands as a missionary outpost in the land of -the enemy, its builders would have said, doing a greater work than they -planned. To-night is the Christmas festival of its English-speaking -Sunday-school, and the pews are filled. The banners of United Italy, -of modern Hellas, of France and Germany and England, hang side by side -with the Chinese dragon and the starry flag-signs of the cosmopolitan -character of the congregation. Greek and Roman Catholics, Jews and -joss-worshippers, go there; few Protestants, and no Baptists. It is -easy to pick out the children in their seats by nationality, and as -easy to read the story of poverty and suffering that stands written in -more than one mother's haggard face, now beaming with pleasure at the -little ones' glee. A gayly decorated Christmas tree has taken the place -of the pulpit. At its foot is stacked a mountain of bundles, Santa -Claus's gifts to the school. A self-conscious young man with soap-locks -had just been allowed to retire, amid tumultuous applause, after -blowing "Nearer, my God, to Thee" on his horn until his cheeks swelled -almost to bursting. A trumpet ever takes the Fourth Ward by storm. -A class of little girls is climbing upon the platform. Each wears a -capital letter on her breast, and together they spell its lesson. -There is momentary consternation: one is missing. As the discovery is -made, a child pushes past the doorkeeper, hot and breathless. "I am -in 'Boundless Love,'" she says, and makes for the platform, where her -arrival restores confidence and the language. - -In the audience the befrocked visitor from up-town sits cheek by jowl -with the pigtailed Chinaman and the dark-browed Italian. Up in the -gallery, farthest from the preacher's desk and the tree, sits a Jewish -mother with three boys, almost in rags. A dingy and threadbare shawl -partly hides her poor calico wrap and patched apron. The woman shrinks -in the pew, fearful of being seen; her boys stand upon the benches, -and applaud with the rest. She endeavors vainly to restrain them. -"Tick, tick!" goes the old clock over the door through which wealth and -fashion went out long years ago, and poverty came in.... - -Within hail of the Sullivan Street school camps a scattered little -band, the Christmas customs of which I had been trying for years to -surprise. They are Indians, a handful of Mohawks and Iroquois, whom -some ill wind has blown down from their Canadian reservation, and -left in these West Side tenements to eke out such a living as they -can, weaving mats and baskets, and threading glass pearls on slippers -and pin-cushions, until one after another they have died off and gone -to happier hunting-grounds than Thompson Street. There were as many -families as one could count on the fingers of both hands when I first -came upon them, at the death of old Tamenund, the basket maker. Last -Christmas there were seven. I had about made up my mind that the only -real Americans in New York did not keep the holiday at all, when one -Christmas eve they showed me how. Just as dark was setting in, old Mrs. -Benoit came from her Hudson Street attic--where she was known among the -neighbors, as old and poor as she, as Mrs. Ben Wah, and was believed -to be the relict of a warrior of the name of Benjamin Wah--to the -office of the Charity Organization Society, with a bundle for a friend -who had helped her over a rough spot--the rent, I suppose. The bundle -was done up elaborately in blue cheese-cloth, and contained a lot of -little garments which she had made out of the remnants of blankets and -cloth of her own from a younger and better day. "For those," she said, -in her French patois, "who are poorer than myself;" and hobbled away. -I found out, a few days later, when I took her picture weaving mats in -the attic room, that she had scarcely food in the house that Christmas -day and not the car fare to take her to church! Walking was bad, and -her old limbs were stiff. She sat by the window through the winter -evening and watched the sun go down behind the western hills, comforted -by her pipe. Mrs. Ben Wah, to give her her local name, is not really an -Indian; but her husband was one, and she lived all her life with the -tribe till she came here. She is a philosopher in her own quaint way. -"It is no disgrace to be poor," said she to me, regarding her empty -tobacco-pouch; "but it is sometimes a great inconvenience." Not even -the recollection of the vote of censure that was passed upon me once by -the ladies of the Charitable Ten for surreptitiously supplying an aged -couple, the special object of their charity, with army plug, could have -deterred me from taking the hint.... - -In a hundred places all over the city, when Christmas comes, as -many open-air fairs spring suddenly into life. A kind of Gentile -Feast of Tabernacles possesses the tenement districts especially. -Green-embowered booths stand in rows at the curb, and the voice of the -tin trumpet is heard in the land. The common source of all the show is -down by the North River, in the district known as "the Farm." Down -there Santa Claus establishes headquarters early in December and until -past New Year. The broad quay looks then more like a clearing in a pine -forest than a busy section of the metropolis. The steamers discharge -their loads of fir trees at the piers until they stand stacked mountain -high, with foot-hills of holly and ground-ivy trailing off toward the -land side. An army train of wagons is engaged in carting them away -from early morning till late at night; but the green forest grows, in -spite of it all, until in places it shuts the shipping out of sight -altogether. The air is redolent with the smell of balsam and pine. -After nightfall, when the lights are burning in the busy market, and -the homeward-bound crowds with baskets and heavy burdens of Christmas -greens jostle one another with good-natured banter,--nobody is ever -cross down here in the holiday season,--it is good to take a stroll -through the Farm, if one has a spot in his heart faithful yet to the -hills and the woods in spite of the latter-day city. But it is when the -moonlight is upon the water and upon the dark phantom forest, when the -heavy breathing of some passing steamer is the only sound that breaks -the stillness of the night, and the watchman smokes his only pipe on -the bulwark, that the Farm has a mood and an atmosphere all its own, -full of poetry which some day a painter's brush will catch and hold.... - -Farthest down town, where the island narrows toward the Battery, and -warehouses crowd the few remaining tenements, the sombre-hued colony of -Syrians is astir with preparation for the holiday. How comes it that -in the only settlement of the real Christmas people in New York the -corner saloon appropriates to itself all the outward signs of it? Even -the floral cross that is nailed over the door of the Orthodox church -is long withered and dead; it has been there since Easter, and it is -yet twelve days to Christmas by the belated reckoning of the Greek -Church. But if the houses show no sign of the holiday, within there is -nothing lacking. The whole colony is gone a-visiting. There are enough -of the unorthodox to set the fashion, and the rest follow the custom of -the country. The men go from house to house, laugh, shake hands, and -kiss one another on both cheeks, with the salutation, "Kol am va antom -Salimoon." "Every year and you are safe," the Syrian guide renders it -into English; and a non-professional interpreter amends it: "May you -grow happier year by year." Arrack made from grapes and flavored with -aniseseed, and candy baked in little white balls like marbles, are -served with the indispensable cigarette; for long callers, the pipe.... - -The bells in old Trinity chime the midnight hour. From dark hallways -men and women pour forth and hasten to the Maronite church. In the loft -of the dingy old warehouse wax candles burn before an altar of brass. -The priest, in a white robe with a huge gold cross worked on the back, -chants the ritual. The people respond. The women kneel in the aisles, -shrouding their heads in their shawls; a surpliced acolyte swings his -censer; the heavy perfume of burning incense fills the hall. - -The band at the anarchists' ball is tuning up for the last dance. Young -and old float to the happy strains, forgetting injustice, oppression, -hatred. Children slide upon the waxed floor, weaving fearlessly in and -out between couples--between fierce, bearded men and short-haired women -with crimson-bordered kerchiefs. A Punch-and-Judy show in the corner -evokes shouts of laughter. - -Outside the snow is falling. It sifts silently into each nook and -corner, softens all the hard and ugly lines, and throws the spotless -mantle of charity over the blemishes, the shortcomings. Christmas -morning will dawn pure and white. - - JACOB RIIS in _Children of the Tenements_ (abridged) - - -Christmas at Sea - - The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand; - The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand; - The wind was a nor'wester, blowing squally off the sea, - And the cliffs and spouting breakers were the only thing a-lee. - - We heard the surf a-roaring before the break of day, - But 'twas only with the peep of light we saw how ill we lay. - We tumbled every hand on deck, instanter, with a shout, - And we gave her the maintops'l, and stood by to go about. - - All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North; - All day we hauled the frozen sheets and got no further forth; - All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread, - For very life and nature we tacked from head to head. - - We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide-race roared; - But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard: - So's we saw the cliffs and houses, and the breakers running high, - And the coast-guard in his garden, with his glass against his eye. - - The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam; - The good red fires were burning bright in every 'longshore home; - The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out, - And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about. - - The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer, - For it's just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year) - This day of our adversity was blessed Christmas morn, - And the house above the coast-guard's was the house where I was born. - - O well I saw the pleasant room, the pleasant faces there, - My mother's silver spectacles, my father's silver hair; - And well I saw the firelight, like a flight of homely elves, - Go dancing round the china-plates that stand upon the shelves. - - And well I know the talk they had, the talk that was of me, - Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea; - And O a wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way, - To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessed Christmas day! - - They lit the high sea-light, and the dark began to fall. - "All hands to loose top-gallant sails," I heard the captain call. - "By the Lord, she'll never stand it," our first mate, Jackson, cried. - "It's the one way or the other, Mr. Jackson," he replied. - - She staggered to her bearings, but the sails were new and good, - And the ship smelt up to windward just as though she understood. - As the winter's day was ending, in the entry of the night, - We cleared the weary headland and passed below the light. - - And they heaved a mighty breath, every soul on board but me, - As they saw her nose again pointing handsome out to sea; - But all that I could think of, in the darkness and the cold, - Was just that I was leaving home and my folks were growing old. - - ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON - - _By permission of Charles Scribner's Sons_ - - -The First Christmas Tree in the Legation Compound at Tokyo, Japan - -A huge Christmas tree, the first that had ever grown in our compound, -for the children of our servants and writers and employés, who make -up the number of our Legation population to close on two hundred, -beginning with H----, and ending with the last jinriksha coolie's -youngest baby. I could not have the tree on Christmas Day, owing to -various engagements; so it was fixed for January 3d, and was quite the -most successful entertainment I ever gave! - -When I undertook it, I confess that I had no idea how many little ones -belonged to the compound. I sent our good Ogita round to invite them -all solemnly to come to Ichiban (Number One) on the 3d at five o'clock. -Ogita threw himself into the business with delighted goodwill, having -five little people of his own to include in the invitation; but all -the servants were eager to help as soon as they knew we were preparing -a treat for the children. That is work which would always appeal to -Japanese of any age or class. No trouble is too great, if it brings -pleasure to the "treasure flowers," as the babies are called. I am -still too ignorant of their special tastes to trust my own judgment -in the matter of presents; so Mr. G---- left the dictionary and the -Chancery for two or three afternoons, and helped me to collect an -appropriate harvest for the little hands to glean. Some of them were -not little, and these were more difficult to buy for; but after many -cold hours passed in the different bazaars, it seemed to me that there -must be something for everybody, although we had really spent very -little money. - -The wares were so quaint and pretty that it was a pleasure to sort and -handle them. There were workboxes in beautiful polished woods, with -drawers fitting so perfectly that when you closed one the compressed -air at once shot out another. There were mirrors enclosed in charming -embroidered cases; for where mirrors are mostly made of metal, people -learn not to let them get scratched. There were dollies of every size, -and dolls' houses and furniture, kitchens, farmyards, rice-pounding -machines--all made in the tiniest proportions, such as it seemed -no human fingers could really have handled. For the elder boys we -bought books, school-boxes with every school requisite contained in a -square the size of one's hand, and penknives and scissors, which are -greatly prized as being of foreign manufacture. For decorations we -had an abundant choice of materials. I got forests of willow branches -decorated with artificial fruits; pink and white balls made of rice -paste, which are threaded on the twigs; surprise shells of the same -paste, two lightly stuck together in the form of a double scallop -shell, and full of miniature toys; kanzashi, or ornamental hairpins for -the girls, made flowers of gold and silver among my dark pine branches; -and I wasted precious minutes in opening and shutting these dainty -roses--buds until you press a spring, when they open suddenly into a -full-blown rose. But the most beautiful things on my tree were the -icicles, which hung in scores from its sombre foliage, catching rosy -gleams of light from our lamps as we worked late into the night. These -were--chopsticks, long glass chopsticks, which I discovered in the -bazaar; and I am sure Santa Klaus himself could not have told them from -icicles. Of course every present must be labelled with a child's name, -and here my troubles began. Ogita was told to make out a correct list -of names and ages, with some reference to the calling of the parents; -for even here rank and precedence must be observed, or terrible -heart-burnings might follow. The list came at last; and if it were -not so long, I would send it to you complete, for it was a curiosity. -Imagine such complicated titles as these: "Minister's second cook's -girl. Umé, age 2; Minister's servant's cousin's boy. Age 11"; "Student -interpreter's teacher's girl"; "Vice-Consul's jinriksha-man's boy." -And so it went on, till there were fifty-eight of them of all ages, -from one year up to nineteen. Some of them, indeed, were less than a -year old; and I was amused on the evening of the 2d at having the list -brought back to me with this note (Ogita's English is still highly -individual!): "Marked X is declined to the invitation." On looking -down the column, I found that ominous-looking cross only against one -name, that of Yasu, daughter of Ito Kanejiro, Mr. G----'s cook. This -recalcitrant little person turned out to be six weeks old--an early age -for parties even nowadays. Miss Yasu, having been born in November, was -put down in the following January as two years old, after the puzzling -Japanese fashion. Then I found that they would write boys as girls, -girls as boys, grown-ups as babies, and so on. Even at the last moment -a doll had to be turned into a sword, a toy tea-set into a workbox, a -history of Europe into a rattle; but people who grow Christmas trees -are prepared for such small contingencies, and no one knew anything -about it when on Friday afternoon the great tree slowly glowed into a -pyramid of light, and a long procession of little Japs was marshalled -in, with great solemnity and many bows, till they stood, a delighted, -wide-eyed crowd, round the beautiful shining thing, the first Christmas -tree any one of them had ever seen. It was worth all the trouble, to -see the gasp of surprise and delight, the evident fear that the whole -thing might be unreal and suddenly fade away. One little man of two -fell flat on his back with amazement, tried to rise and have another -look, and in so doing rolled over on his nose, where he lay quite -silent till his relatives rescued him. Behind the children stood the -mothers, quite as pleased as they, and with them one very old lady -with a little child on her back. She turned out to be the Vice-Consul's -jinriksha-man's grandmother; the wife of that functionary was dead, and -the old lady had to take her place in carrying about the poor little V. -C. J. R. S. M.'s boy baby. - -The children stood, the little ones in front and the taller ones -behind, in a semicircle, and the many lights showed their bright -faces and gorgeous costumes, for no one would be outdone by another -in smartness--I fancy the poorer women had borrowed from richer -neighbours--and the result was picturesque in the extreme. The older -girls had their heads beautifully dressed, with flowers and pins and -rolls of scarlet crape knotted in between the coils; their dresses were -pale green or blue, with bright linings and stiff silk obis; but the -little ones were a blaze of scarlet, green, geranium pink, and orange, -their long sleeves sweeping the ground, and the huge flower patterns of -their garments making them look like live flowers as they moved about -on the dark velvet carpet. When they had gazed their fill, they were -called up to me one by one, Ogita addressing them all as "San" (Miss -or Mr.), even if they could only toddle, and I gave them their serious -presents with their names, written in Japanese and English, tied on -with red ribbon--an attention which, as I was afterwards told, they -appreciated greatly. It seemed to me that they never would end; their -size varied from a wee mite who could not carry its own toys to a tall -handsome student of sixteen, or a gorgeous young lady in green and -mauve crape and a head that must have taken the best part of a day to -dress. - -In one thing they were all alike: their manners were perfect. There -was no pushing or grasping, no glances of envy at what other children -received, no false shyness in their sweet happy way of expressing -their thanks. I had for my helpers two somewhat antagonistic -volunteers--Sir Edwin Arnold, basking in Buddhistic calms, and Bishop -Bickersteth, intensely Anglican, severe-looking, ascetic. There had -already been some polite theological encounters at our table, and I -did not feel sure that the combination would prove a happy one. But -each man is a wonder of kind-heartedness in his own way; and my doubts -were replaced by sunshiny certainties, when I saw how they both began -by beaming at the children, and ended by beaming on one another. I -was puzzled by one thing about the children: although we kept giving -them sweets and oranges off the tree, every time I looked round the -big circle all were empty-handed again, and it really seemed as if -they must have swallowed the gifts, gold paper and ribbon and all. But -at last I noticed that their square hanging sleeves began to have a -strange lumpy appearance, like a conjurer's waistcoat just before he -produces twenty-four bowls of live goldfish from his internal economy; -and then I understood that the plunder was at once dropped into these -great sleeves so as to leave hands free for anything else that Okusama -might think good to bestow. One little lady, O'Haru San, aged three, -got so overloaded with goodies and toys that they kept rolling out of -her sleeves, to the great delight of the Brown Ambassador Dachshund, -Tip, who pounced on them like lightning, and was also convicted of -nibbling at cakes on the lower branches of the tree. - -The bigger children would not take second editions of presents, and -answered, "Honourable thanks, I have!" if offered more than they -thought their share; but babies are babies all the world over! When -the distribution was finished at last, I got a Japanese gentleman to -tell them the story of Christmas, the children's feast; and then they -came up one by one to say "Sayonara" ("Since it must be," the Japanese -farewell), and "Arigato gozaimasu" ("The honourable thanks"). - -"Come back next year," I said; and then the last presents were given -out--beautiful lanterns, red, lighted, and hung on what Ogita calls -bumboos, to light the guests home with. One tiny maiden refused to go, -and flung herself on the floor in a passion of weeping, saying that -Okusama's house was too beautiful to leave, and she would stay with me -always--yes, she would! Only the sight of the lighted lantern, bobbing -on a stick twice as long as herself, persuaded her to return to her -own home in the servants' quarters. I stood on the step, the same step -where I had set the fireflies free one warm night last summer, and -watched the little people scatter over the lawns, and disappear into -the dark shrubberies, their round red lights dancing and shifting as -they went, just as if my fireflies had come back, on red wings this -time, to light my little friends to bed. - - MARY CRAWFORD FRASER - - -Christmas in India - - Dim dawn behind the tamarisks--the sky is saffron-yellow-- - As the women in the village grind the corn, - And the parrots seek the river-side, each calling to his fellow - That the Day, the staring Eastern Day is born. - Oh the white dust on the highway! Oh the stenches in the byway! - Oh the clammy fog that hovers over earth! - And at Home they're making merry 'neath the white and scarlet berry-- - What part have India's exiles in their mirth? - - Full day behind the tamarisks--the sky is blue and staring-- - As the cattle crawl afield beneath the yoke, - And they bear One o'er the field-path, who is past all hope or caring - To the ghat below the curling wreaths of smoke. - Call on Rama, going slowly, as ye bear a brother lowly-- - Call on Rama--he may hear, perhaps, your voice! - With our hymn-books and our Psalters we appeal to other altars - And to-day we bid "good Christian men rejoice!" - - High noon behind the tamarisks--the sun is hot above us-- - As at Home the Christmas Day is breaking wan. - They will drink our healths at dinner--those who tell us how they love - us, - And forget us till another year be gone! - Oh the toil that needs no breaking! Oh the Heimweh, ceaseless, aching! - Oh the black dividing Sea and alien Plain! - Youth was cheap--wherefore we sold it. Gold was good--we hoped to hold - it, - And to-day we know the fulness of our gain. - - Gray dusk behind the tamarisks--the parrots fly together-- - As the sun is sinking slowly over Home; - And his last ray seems to mock us shackled in a lifelong tether - That drags us back howe'er so far we roam. - Hard her service, poor her payment--she in ancient, tattered raiment-- - India, she the grim Stepmother of our kind. - If the year of life be lent her, if her temple's shrine we enter, - The door is shut--we may not look behind. - - Black night behind the tamarisks--the owls begin their chorus-- - As the conches from the temples cream and bray. - With the fruitless years behind us, and the hopeless years before us, - Let us honor, O my brothers, Christmas Day! - Call a truce, then, to our labors--let us feast with friends and - neighbors, - And be merry as the custom of our caste; - For if "faint and forced the laughter," and if sadness follow after, - We are richer by one mocking Christmas past. - - RUDYARD KIPLING - - _By permission of the author and Messrs. Methuen & Co._ - - -A Belgian Christmas Eve Procession - -A certain stir and bustle in the street evidently portended some -important event. Spectators, market-women; workmen and bloused -peasants, homeward bound with baskets emptied of eggs, chickens and -shapeless lumps of butter, began to congregate, mingling with some -score or so of that minor bourgeoisie that lives frugally on its -modest income and having overmuch leisure is greedy for a sight of -any street spectacle. There were idle troopers too belonging to the -cavalry, whose trumpets rang out shrilly ever and anon from the -barracks hard by; while a milk-woman on her rounds, with glittering -brass cans in the little green cart that her sturdy mastiff with his -brass-studded harness and red worsted tassels drew so easily, forgot -her customers as she secured for herself a place in the foremost -rank. Then children suddenly appeared, basket-laden, strewing the -street with flowers and cut fragments of colored paper until the rough -paving-stones all but disappeared beneath an irregular mosaic of red -and green and blue. The bells of neighboring churches sent forth with -common accord a joyous peal which was echoed by those of a monastery -on the farther side of my hotel, and through the gate of which I had -often seen the poor--such beggars as Sterne depicted--going in for -their daily dole of bread and soup. From afar came the boom and clang -of music, blended with the deep rich notes of chanting, as the head of -a procession came in sight. - -It was difficult to believe that the town could have contained so many -girls--young, well dressed and pretty, as had been, by ecclesiastical -influence, or by social considerations, induced to walk in that -procession. They were of all ages, from the lisping child ill at -ease in her starched frock and white shoes, to the tall maiden, -carrying a heavy flag with the air of a Joan of Arc; but there they -were--squadrons of girls in white; bevies of girls in blue; companies -of girls in pink or lilac or maize color; all either actually bearing -some emblem or badge, or feigning to assist the progress of some shrine -or reliquary, or colossal crucifix, or group of images, by grasping -the end of one of the hundreds of bright ribbons that were attached to -these the central features and rallying points of the show. On, on they -streamed, walking demurely to the musical bassoon and serpent cornet -and drum, of clashing cymbal and piping clarionet, while the musicians, -collected from many a parish of city and suburbs, beat and blew their -best. Anon the music was hushed, and nothing broke the silence save the -deep voices of the chanting priests, and then arose the shrill singing -of many children as school after school, well drilled and officered -by nuns or friars, as the case might be,--marched on to swell the -apparently interminable array. - -A marvellous effect was there of color and grouping, and a rare display -too of treasures ecclesiastic that seldom see the light of day. There -is nothing now in the market, were an empress the bidder, to equal -that old point lace just drawn forth from the oaken chest in which it -usually reposes, and which was the pious work of supple fingers that -crumbled to dust two centuries ago. Where can you find such goldsmith's -work as yonder casket, that in bygone ages was consecrated as the -receptacle of some wonder-working relic; or see such a triumph of art -as that jewelled chalice, the repoussé work of which was surely wrought -by fairy hammers, so light and delicate is the tracery? - -... On, and onwards still, as if the whole feminine population of the -kingdom--between the ages of seven, say, and seven-and-twenty--had been -pressed into the service, swept the procession. Fresh bands of music, -new companies of chanting priests, of deep-voiced deacons whose scarlet -robes were all but hidden by costly lace, awakened the echoes of the -quiet streets. Chariots with bleeding hearts conspicuously borne aloft; -chariots with gigantic crucifixes; chariots resplendent as the sun, -with lavish display of cloth of gold, and tenanted by venerated images, -went lumbering by. - -And still the children sang and the diapason of the chanting rolled -out like solemn thunder on the air, while at every instant some novel -feature of the ever varying spectacle claimed its meed of praise. -Prettiest, perhaps, of all the sights there was a little--a very -little--child, a beautiful boy with golden curls, fantastically clad -in raiment of camel's hair, who carried a tiny cross and led by a blue -ribbon a white lamb, highly trained, no doubt, since it followed with -perfect docility and exemplary meekness. A more charming model of -innocent infancy than this youthful representative of John the Baptist, -as with filleted head, small limbs seemingly bare, and blue eyes that -never wandered to the right or left, he slowly stepped on, none of the -great Italian masters ever drew.... - -The spectators, I noticed, behaved very variously. There were _esprit -forts_ clearly among the bourgeoisie looking on, who seemed coldly -indifferent to what they saw, if not actually hostile, and who declined -to doff their hats as the holiest images and the most hallowed -emblems were borne by. But the peasants one and all bared their heads -in reverence; and the milk-woman, with her cart and her cans, had -pulled her rosary, with its dark beads and brass medals, out of her -capacious pocket and was telling her beads as devoutly as her own -great-grandmother could have done. - -Some rivalry there may possibly have been between the different -parishes which had sent forth their boys and girls, their bands and -flags, and the jealously guarded treasures from crypt and chancel and -sacristy to swell the pomp--Saint Jossé, with its famed old church, to -which pilgrims resort even from the banks of Loire and Rhine, could not -permit itself to be outshone by fashionable Saint Jacques, where it is -easy for a bland abbé, who knows the world of the salons, to collect -subscriptions that are less missed by the givers than a lost bet on -the races, or a luckless stake at baccarat. And Saint Ursula, grim -patroness of a network of ancient streets, where aristocratic mansions -of the mediæval type are elbowed by mean shops and hucksters' stalls, -yet tries to avoid the disgrace of being overcrowded by moneyed, -pushing parvenu All Saints, where tall new houses, radiant with terra -cotta and plate glass, shelter the rich proprietors of the still taller -brick chimneys that dominate a mass of workmen's dwellings on the -outskirts of the parish. But such a spirit of emulation only serves to -enhance the glitter of the show. - -And now the clashing cymbals, and the boom and bray of the brass -instruments lately at their loudest, are hushed, that the rich thunder -of the chanting may be the better heard, and the spectators press -forward, or stand on tiptoe, to peer over the shoulders of those in -the foremost rank. Something was plainly to be looked for that was -regarded as the central pivot, or kernel, of the show. And here it -comes,--surrounded by chanting priests, and preceded by scarlet capped -and white robed acolytes swinging weighty censers, under his canopy -of state borne over his head by four stronger men, some dignitary of -the Church goes by. He wears no mitre--not even that of a bishop _in -partibus infidelium_--and therefore I conjecture him to be a dean. He -is at any rate splendid as jewels, and gold embroideries, and antique -lace can make him; and he walks beneath his gorgeous baldaquin of gold -and purple, chanting too, but in a thin reedy voice, for he is old, -and his hair, silver white, contrasts somewhat plaintively with the -magnificence that environs him as amidst clouds of steaming incense he -totters on. The bystanders begin to disperse, for it is getting late -and cold, and the shadows are beginning to creep from darkling nooks -and corners, and the spectacle is over. The procession is out of sight, -and fainter grow the sounds of the music and of the chanting. The last -spectator to depart was a young monk, with a pale face and dreamy eyes, -clad in the brown robes of his order, who during all this time had -knelt on the cold stones at the monastery gate, his lips moving as his -lean fingers grasped his rosary, and an expression of rapt devotion on -his wan countenance, that would have done credit to some hermit saint -of a thousand years ago when the crown of martyrdom was easy to find. - - From _All the Year Round_ - - -Christmas at the Cape - - Your Christmas comes with holly leaves - And snow about your doors and eaves; - Our lighted windows, open wide, - Let in our summer Christmas tide; - And where the drifting moths may go-- - Behold our tiny flakes of snow; - - But carol, carol in the cold; - And carol, carol as ye may,-- - We sing the merry songs of old - As merrily on Christmas Day. - - Your hills are wrapped in rainy cloud, - Your sea in anger roars aloud; - But here our hills are veiled with haze - In harmonies of blues and grays; - The waters of two oceans meet - With friendly murmurs by our feet; - - But carol, carol, Christmas Waits, - And carol, carol, as ye may,-- - The Crickets by our doors and gates - Sing in the grace of Christmas Day. - - The rain and sunshine of the Cape - Lie folded in the ripening grape, - And Stellenbosch and Drakenstein, - With bounteous orchard, field of vine, - And every spot that we pass by-- - Lie burnished 'neath our Christmas sky; - - So carol, carol in your snow - And carol, carol as ye may,-- - We carol 'mid our blooms ablow, - The grace of Summer's Christmas Day. - - JOHN RUNCIE - -[Illustration: THE HOLY FAMILY WITH THE SHEPHERDS. _Titian._] - - -The "Good Night" in Spain - -Who is he that has seen a Nativity and has not felt it? Who has not -found himself in his own home, in his own domain, there in that -fantastic world of cork and gummed paper, with its shadowy caves, -where a saintly anchorite prays before a crucifix--sweet and simple -anachronism, like that of the hunter who in a thicket of rosemary -shrubs aims his gun at a partridge large as a stork perched on -the tower of a hermitage, or that of the smuggler with his Spanish -cloak and slouch hat, who with a load of tobacco hides behind a paper -rock to give free passage to the three kings journeying in all their -glory along the lofty summits of those cork Alps? Who does not feel -an inexplicable pleasure at seeing that little donkey, laden with -firewood, passing over a proud bridge of paper stone? And that meadow -of milled green baize in which feed so tranquilly those little white -lambs! Does not that hoar frost so well imitated with steel filings -turn you cold? Do you not take comfort in the heat of that ruddy -bonfire which the shepherds are kindling to warm the Holy Child? Who -is not startled to discover, under the strips of glass which represent -so well a frozen river, the fish, the tortoises, the crabs, reposing -with all ease upon a bed of golden sand and swollen to dimensions -unknown to naturalists? Here is a crab under whose claws can pass an -eel, his neighbor, as under the arch of a bridge. Here is a colossal -rat regarding with a bullying air a diminutive and peaceful kitten. -Over yonder a donkey is disputing with a rabbit about the respective -magnificence of their ears, which are, in fact, of the same size, and -a bull is holding a similar discussion, on the subject of horns, with -a snail, while a stout duck refuses to yield the honors to a rickety -swan. And these birds of all colors, gladdening that profound forest of -little evergreens which forms the background of this enchanting scene, -would you not think that they had gathered here from the four quarters -of the earth? Does it not make you happy to see the shepherds dance? -And, above all, do you not adore with tender reverence the Divine -Mystery contained in that humble porch with its thatch of straw and, -in its depths, a halo or glory of light? I say it frankly,--on that -holy and merry Christmas Eve, all these things seem to me to live and -feel; these little figures of clay, shaped by clumsy hands, placed -there with such faith and such devotion, seem to me to receive breath -and being from the joy and enthusiasm that reign. The star which guides -the Magi, tinsel and glass though it is, seems to me to shine and shoot -forth rays. The aureole surrounding the manger where the Holy Child is -lying seems to glow not as a transparency with candles placed behind -it, but with a reflection of celestial light. The tambourines and drums -and songs give out melodies as simple and as pleasing as if they were -echoes of those heard by the shepherds on that first blest Christmas -Eve. - -Could there be a festival more joyous, more natural, more tender in -appeal and at the same time more exalted in significance--the birth -of the Child in the rude stable, with only shepherds to wish him joy; -innocence, poverty, simplicity, the very foundations of the magnificent -structure of Christianity? Well may children and the poor keep a merry -Christmas. They bring to God the gifts which please him best,--purity, -faith and love. O, night, well called in Spain "The Good Night," -blither than the carnival and holy as Holy Week itself! - - From _Holy Night_, by FERNAN CABALLERO. Translated by Katharine Lee - Bates - - -Christmas in Rome - -What is the meaning of our English Christmas? What makes it seem so -truly Northern, national, and homely, that we do not like to keep the -feast upon a foreign shore? These questions grew upon me as I stood -one Advent afternoon beneath the Dome of Florence.... - -The same thought pursued me as I drove to Rome by Siena, still and -brown, uplifted mid her russet hills and wilderness of rolling plain; -by Chiusi, with its sepulchral city of a dead and unknown people; -through the chestnut forests of the Apennines; by Orvieto's rock, -Viterbo's fountains, and the oak-grown solitudes of the Ciminian -heights, from which one looks across the broad Lake of Bolsena and the -Roman plain. Brilliant sunlight, like that of a day in late September, -shone upon the landscape, and I thought--Can this be Christmas? Are -they bringing mistletoe and holly on the country carts into the towns -in far-off England? Is it clear and frosty there, with the tramp of -heels upon the flag, or snowing silently, or foggy, with a round red -sun and cries of warning at the corners of the streets? - -I reached Rome on Christmas-eve in time to hear midnight services in -the Sistine Chapel and St. John Lateran, to breathe the dust of decayed -shrines, to wonder at doting cardinals begrimed with snuff, and to -resent the open-mouthed bad taste of my countrymen, who made a mockery -of these palsy-stricken ceremonies. Nine cardinals going to sleep, -nine train-bearers talking scandal, twenty huge, handsome Switzers in -the dress devised by Michael Angelo, some ushers, a choir caged off -by gilded railings, the insolence and eagerness of polyglot tourists, -plenty of wax candles dripping on people's heads, and a continual nasal -drone proceeding from the gilded cage, out of which were caught at -intervals these words, and these only--"Sæcula Sæculorum, amen." Such -was the celebrated Sistine service. The chapel blazed with light, and -very strange did Michael Angelo's Last Judgment, his Sibyls, and his -Prophets appear upon the roof and wall above this motley and unmeaning -crowd. - -Next morning I put on my dress-clothes and white tie and repaired, -with groups of Englishmen similarly attired, and of Englishwomen in -black crape (the regulation costume), to St. Peter's. It was a glorious -and cloudless morning; sunbeams streamed in columns from the southern -windows, falling on the vast space full of soldiers and a mingled -mass of every kind of people. Up the nave stood double files of the -pontifical guard. Monks and nuns mixed with the Swiss cuirassiers and -halberds. _Contadini_ crowded round the sacred images, and especially -round the toe of St. Peter. I saw many mothers lift their swaddled -babies up to kiss it. Valets of cardinals, with the invariable red -umbrellas, hung about side chapels and sacristies. Purple-mantled -_monsignori_, like emperor butterflies, floated down the aisles from -sunlight into shadow. Movement, color, and the stir of expectation -made the church alive. We showed our dress-clothes to the guard, -were admitted within their ranks, and solemnly walked up towards the -dome. There, under its broad canopy, stood the altar, glittering with -gold and candles. The choir was carpeted and hung with scarlet. Two -magnificent thrones rose ready for the Pope. Guards of honor, soldiers, -attachés, and the élite of the residents and visitors in Rome were -scattered in groups, picturesquely varied by ecclesiastics of all -orders and degrees. At ten a stirring took place near the great west -door. It opened, and we saw a procession of the Pope and his cardinals. -Before him marched the singers and the blowers of the silver trumpets, -making the most liquid melody. Then came his Cap of Maintenance and -three tiaras; then a company of mitred priests; next the cardinals in -scarlet; and last, aloft beneath a canopy upon the shoulders of men, -and flanked by the mystic fans, advanced the Pope himself, swaying to -and fro like a Lama or an Aztec king. Still the trumpets blew most -silverly, and still the people knelt; and as he came, we knelt and had -his blessing. Then he took his state and received homage. After this -the choir began to sing a mass of Palestrina's, and the deacons robed -the Pope. Marvellous putting on and taking off of robes and tiaras -and mitres ensued, during which there was much bowing and praying and -burning of incense. At last, when he had reached the highest stage of -sacrificial sanctity, he proceeded to the altar, waited on by cardinals -and bishops. Having censed it carefully, he took a higher throne and -divested himself of part of his robes. Then the mass went on in earnest -till the moment of consecration, when it paused, the Pope descended -from his throne, passed down the choir, and reached the altar. Every -one knelt; the shrill bell tinkled; the silver trumpets blew; the -air became sick and heavy with incense, so that sun and candle-light -swooned in an atmosphere of odorous cloud-wreaths. The whole church -trembled, hearing the strange subtle music vibrate in the dome, and -seeing the Pope with his own hands lift Christ's body from the altar -and present it to the people. An old parish priest, pilgrim from some -valley of the Apennines, who knelt beside me, cried and quivered with -excess of adoration. The great tombs around, the sculptured saints -and angels, the dome, the volumes of light and incense and unfamiliar -melody, the hierarchy ministrant, the white and central figure of the -Pope, the multitude, made up an overpowering scene. - - JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS - - -Christmas in Burgundy - -Every year at the approach of Advent, people refresh their memories, -clear their throats, and begin preluding, in the long evenings by -the fireside, those carols whose invariable and eternal theme is the -coming of the Messiah. They take from old closets pamphlets, little -collections begrimed with dust and smoke, to which the press, and -sometimes the pen, has consigned these songs; and as soon as the first -Sunday of Advent sounds, they gossip, they gad about, they sit together -by the fireside, sometimes at one house, sometimes at another, taking -turns in paying for the chestnuts and white wine, but singing with -one common voice the grotesque praises of the _Little Jesus_. There -are very few villages even, which, during all the evenings of Advent, -do not hear some of these curious canticles shouted in their streets, -to the nasal drone of bagpipes. In this case the minstrel comes as a -reinforcement to the singers at the fireside; he brings and adds his -dose of joy (spontaneous or mercenary, it matters little which) to the -joy which breathes around the hearth-stone; and when the voices vibrate -and resound, one voice more is always welcome. There, it is not the -purity of the notes which makes the concert, but the quantity,--_non -qualitas, sed quantitas_; then (to finish at once with the minstrel) -when the Saviour has at length been born in the manger, and the -beautiful Christmas Eve is passed, the rustic piper makes his round -among the houses, where every one compliments and thanks him, and, -moreover, gives him in small coin the price of the shrill notes with -which he has enlivened the evening entertainments. - -More or less until Christmas Eve, all goes on in this way among our -devout singers, with the difference of some gallons of wine or some -hundreds of chestnuts. But this famous eve once come, the scale is -pitched upon a higher key; the closing evening must be a memorable -one. The toilet is begun at nightfall; then comes the hour of supper, -admonishing divers appetites; and groups, as numerous as possible, are -formed to take together this comfortable evening repast. The supper -finished, a circle gathers around the hearth, which is arranged and -set in order this evening after a particular fashion, and which at a -later hour of the night is to become the object of special interest to -the children. On the burning brands an enormous log has been placed. -This log assuredly does not change its nature, but it changes its -name during this evening: it is called the _Suche_ (the Yule-log). -"Look you," say they to the children, "if you are good this evening, -Noël" (for with children one must always personify) "will rain down -sugar-plums in the night." And the children sit demurely, keeping as -quiet as their turbulent little natures will permit. The groups of -older persons, not always as orderly as the children, seize this good -opportunity to surrender themselves with merry hearts and boisterous -voices to the chanted worship of the miraculous Noël. For this final -solemnity, they have kept the most powerful, the most enthusiastic, the -most electrifying carols. Noël! Noël! Noël! this magic word resounds -on all sides; it seasons every sauce, it is served up with every -course. Of the thousands of canticles which are heard on this famous -eve, ninety-nine in a hundred begin and end with this word; which -is, one may say, their Alpha and Omega, their crown and footstool. -This last evening, the merry-making is prolonged. Instead of retiring -at ten or eleven o'clock, as is generally done on all the preceding -evenings, they wait for the stroke of midnight: this word sufficiently -proclaims to what ceremony they are going to repair. For ten minutes or -a quarter of an hour, the bells have been calling the faithful with a -triple-bobmajor; and each one, furnished with a little taper streaked -with various colors (the Christmas Candle) goes through the crowded -streets, where the lanterns are dancing like Will-o'-the-Wisps, at -the impatient summons of the multitudinous chimes. It is the Midnight -Mass. Once inside the church, they hear with more or less piety the -Mass, emblematic of the coming of the Messiah. Then in tumult and -great haste they return homeward, always in numerous groups; they -salute the Yule-log; they pay homage to the hearth; they sit down at -table; and, amid songs which reverberate louder than ever, make this -meal of after-Christmas, so long looked for, so cherished, so joyous, -so noisy, and which it has been thought fit to call, we hardly know -why, _Rossignon_. The supper eaten at nightfall is no impediment, -as you may imagine, to the appetite's returning; above all, if the -going to and from church has made the devout eaters feel some little -shafts of the sharp and biting north-wind. _Rossignon_ then goes on -merrily,--sometimes far into the morning hours; but, nevertheless, -gradually throats grow hoarse, stomachs are filled, the Yule-log burns -out, and at last the hour arrives when each one, as best he may, -regains his domicile and his bed, and puts with himself between the -sheets the material for a good sore-throat, or a good indigestion, for -the morrow. Previous to this, care has been taken to place in the -slippers, or wooden shoes of the children, the sugar-plums, which shall -be for them, on their waking, the welcome fruits of the Christmas log. - -In the Glossary, the _Suche_, or Yule-log, is thus defined:-- - -"This is a huge log, which is placed on the fire on Christmas Eve, and -which in Burgundy is called, on this account, _lai Suche de Noël_. Then -the father of the family, particularly among the middle classes, sings -solemnly Christmas carols with his wife and children, the smallest of -whom he sends into the corner to pray that the Yule-log may bear him -some sugar-plums. Meanwhile, little parcels of them are placed under -each end of the log, and the children come and pick them up, believing, -in good faith, that the great log has borne them." - - M. FERTIAULT. Translated by Henry W. Longfellow - - -Christmas in Germany - - BERLIN, _December_ 25, 1871 - -To-day is Christmas day, and I have thought much of you all at home, -and have wondered if you've been having an apathetic time as usual. I -think we often spend Christmas in a most shocking fashion in America, -and I mean to revolutionize all that when I get back. So long a time -in Germany has taught me better. Here it is a season of universal joy, -and everybody enters into it. Last night we had a Christmas tree at the -S.'s, as we always do. We went there at half past six, and it was the -prettiest thing to see in every house, nearly, a tree just lighted, -or in process of being so. As a separate family lives on each floor, -often in one house would be three trees, one above the other, in the -front rooms. The curtains are always drawn up, to give the passers-by -the benefit of it. They don't make a fearful undertaking of having a -Christmas tree here, as we do in America, and so they are attainable -by everybody. The tree is small, to begin with, and nothing is put on -it except the tapers and bonbons. It is fixed on a small stand in the -centre of a large square table covered with a white cloth, and each -person's presents are arranged in a separate pile around it. The tree -is only lighted for the sake of beauty, and for the air of festivity -it throws over the thing.--After a crisp walk in the moonlight (which -I performed in the style of "Johnny-look-up-in-the-air," for I was -engaged in staring into house-windows, so far as it was practicable), -we sat down to enjoy a cup of tea and a piece of cake. I had just -begun my second cup, when, Presto! the parlour doors flew open, and -there stood the little green tree, blossoming out into lights, and -throwing its gleams over the well-laden table. There was a general -scramble and a search for one's own pile, succeeded by deep silence and -suspense while we opened the papers. Such a hand shaking and embracing -and thanking as followed! concluding with the satisfactory conviction -that we each had "just what we wanted." Germans do not despise the -utilitarian in their Christmas gifts, as we do, but, between these and -their birthday offerings, expect to be set up for the rest of the year -in the necessaries of life as well as in its superfluities. Presents of -stockings, underclothes, dresses, handkerchiefs, soaps--nothing comes -amiss. And every one must give to every one else. That is LAW. - - AMY FAY in _Music-Study in Germany_. - - -Christmas Dinner in a Clipper's Fo'c'sle - -Christmas Day we were running before a fine westerly gale for the mouth -of the channel. We had been hove to for forty-eight hours; for, though -we had sighted Fayal in the Azores, the Scotchman was afraid to run -because the sun was obscured and he couldn't get an observation. So he -lay under lower main topsail and fore topmast staysail, and let the -fine fair wind blow away while he waited for the sun to come out so he -could find out where he was. Not much like Captain Hurlburt in the old -Tanjore. Early Christmas morning, a little topsail schooner--one of the -fleet of clippers known as "Western Island Fruiters"--came flying along -before the wind like a little butterfly, and, seeing the big ship hove -to, I suppose they thought there must be something the matter with her; -so they kindly ran under our stern and hailed. After finding out where -we were from, and where bound, the skipper asked us what was the matter. - -"Nothing," said Russell. - -"Well," said the schooner skipper, "what are ye hove to for?" - -Russell told him he wanted to get a "sight" to find his position. - -"Foller me, you blahsted fool," said the skipper, and putting up his -helm he left us. It must have been the sight of that little schooner -running so confidently that shamed him, for he squared away and made -sail at once. The cook had killed the pig the day before, so we were -to have fresh meat, that is, baked pork and plum duff, with sauce, for -our Christmas dinner. Although I could not eat much of anything, I -looked forward with great anticipations to the fresh meat which I was -anxious to taste. When the watch was called at half-past eleven, she -was running dead before, and rolling both rails under; for iron ships -are proverbially wet. Some call them "diving bells." Three men went to -the galley: one for the duff, one for the pork, and the other for the -duff sauce. - -They got their grub and started forward. Just as they got nicely clear -of the deck-house, where there was nothing to protect them, she gave a -heavy roll to port, scooping up several tons of water over the rail; -then she rolled as far to starboard, doing the same trick again. And -now the decks being full of water level with both rails, a big sea -raised her stern high in air. The fellow who had the pork yelled for -somebody to open the door, and somebody did, with the result that as -her stern went up the three men with the grub and a tidal wave of salt -water all came into the forecastle together. - -Oh, what a merry Christmas that was! The whole watch were sitting -on their chests waiting for their dinner, or perhaps some were not -entirely dressed when that green sea came in. It washed all the men and -chests up into the eyes of her, and drowned out all the lower bunks. -The pork and duff went somewhere. The sauce, of course, disappeared -entirely. Every man was soaked, and so was every rag of clothing -belonging to the whole watch, except the bedding in the upper bunks, -and that was pretty well wet from the splashing. Fortunately, I had the -upper bunk next the door, so that it all went by me, and I expected the -splashing caused by the sudden stoppage of the water by the bows. After -the flood had subsided, there came a jawing match. - -"Who hollered to open that door?" "No." "But what bloody fool opened -it?" - -So and so. - -"You're a liar!" - -I thought there would be a general row, but they were too wet and too -cold and disheartened to fight about anything. They pulled their chests -out from under each other, satisfied themselves that they didn't own a -dry stitch for a change, and then, fishing out the pork and duff from -under the bunks, threw the latter overboard, and made a sorry Christmas -dinner on semi-saturated fresh pork and hardtack. - - HERBERT ELLIOTT HAMBLEN in _On Many Seas_ - - -Christmas in Jail - -"Richard Marston, I charge you with unlawfully taking, stealing, and -carrying away, in company with others, one thousand head of mixed -cattle, more or less, the property of one Walter Hood, of Outer Back, -Momberah, in or about the month of June last." - -"All right; why don't you make it a few more while you're about it?" - -"That'll do," he said, nodding his head; "you decline to say anything. -Well, I can't exactly wish you a merry Christmas--fancy this being -Christmas Eve, by Jove!--but you'll be cool enough this deuced hot -weather till the sessions in February, which is more than some of us -can say. Good-night." He went out and locked the door. I sat down on my -blanket on the floor and hid my head in my hands. I wonder it didn't -burst with what I felt then. Strange that I shouldn't have felt half as -bad when the judge, the other day, sentenced me to be a dead man in a -couple of months. But I was young then. - - * * * * * - -Christmas Day! Christmas Day! So this is how I was to spend it after -all, I thought, as I woke up at dawn, and saw the gray light just -beginning to get through the bars of the window of the cell. - -Here was I locked up, caged, ironed, disgraced, a felon and an outcast -for the rest of my life. Jim, flying for his life, hiding from every -honest man, every policeman in the country looking after him, and -authorized to catch him or shoot him down like a sheep-killing dog. -Father living in the Hollow, like a black-fellow in a cave, afraid -to spend the blessed Christmas with his wife and daughter, like the -poorest man in the land could do if he was only honest. Mother half -dead with grief, and Aileen ashamed to speak to the man that loved and -respected her from her childhood. Gracey Storefield not daring to think -of me or say my name, after seeing me carried off a prisoner before -her eyes. Here was a load of misery and disgrace heaped up together, -to be borne by the whole family, now and for the time to come--by the -innocent as well as the guilty. And for what? Because we had been too -idle and careless to work regularly and save our money, though well -able to do it, like honest men. Because, little by little, we had let -bad dishonest ways and flash manners grow upon us, all running up an -account that had to be paid some day. - -And now the day of reckoning had come--sharp and sudden with a -vengeance! Well, what call had we to look for anything else? We had -been working for it; now we had got it, and had to bear it. Not for -want of warning, neither. What had mother and Aileen been saying ever -since we could remember? Warning upon warning. Now the end had come -just as they said. Of course I knew in a general way that I couldn't be -punished or be done anything to right off. I knew law enough for that. -The next thing would be that I should have to be brought up before -the magistrates and committed for trial as soon as they could get any -evidence. - -After breakfast, flour and water or hominy, I forget which, the warder -told me that there wasn't much chance of my being brought up before -Christmas was over. The police magistrate was away on a month's leave, -and the other magistrates would not be likely to attend before the end -of the week, anyway. So I must make myself comfortable where I was. -Comfortable! - - ROLF BOLDREWOOD in _Robbery under Arms_ - - -Colonel Carter's Christmas Tree - -Soon there stole over every one in the room that sense of peace and -contentment which always comes when one is at ease in an atmosphere -where love and kindness reign. The soft light of the candles, the low, -rich color of the simple room with its festoons of cedar and pine, the -aroma of the rare wine, and especially the spicy smell of the hemlock -warmed by the burning tapers--that rare, unmistakable smell which only -Christmas greens give out and which few of us know but once a year, and -often not then; all had their effect on host and guests. Katy became -so happy that she lost all fear of her father and prattled on to Fitz -and me (we had pinned to her frock the rose the Colonel had bought for -the "grown-up daughter," and she was wearing it just as Aunt Nancy -wore hers), and Aunt Nancy in her gentle voice talked finance to Mr. -Klutchem in a way that made him open his eyes, and Fitz laughingly -joined in, giving a wide berth to anything bearing on "corners" or -"combinations" or "shorts" and "longs," while I, to spare Aunt Nancy, -kept one eye on Jim,[1] winking at him with it once or twice when he -was about to commit some foolishness, and so the happy feast went on. - -[1] "Jim" is the pickaninny in buttons, who, as Chad says, "looks like -he's busted out with brass measles." - -As to the Colonel, he was never in better form. To him the occasion was -the revival of the old Days of Plenty--the days his soul coveted and -loved: his to enjoy, his to dispense. - -But if it had been delightful before, what was it when Chad, after -certain mysterious movements in the next room, bore aloft the crowning -glory of the evening, and placed it with all its candles in the centre -of the table, the Colonel leaning far back in his chair to give him -room, his coat thrown wide, his face aglow, his eyes sparkling with the -laughter that always kept him young! - -Then it was that the Colonel, gathering under his hand a little sheaf -of paper lamplighters which Chad had twisted, rose from his seat, -picked up a slender glass that had once served his father ("only seben -o' dat kind left," Chad told me) and which that faithful servitor had -just filled from the flow of the old decanter of like period, and with -a wave of his hand as if to command attention, said, in a clear, firm -voice that indicated the dignity of the occasion: "My friends,--my -vehy dear friends, I should say, for I can omit none of you--certainly -not this little angel who has captured our hearts, and surely not -our distinguished guest, Mr. Klutchem, who has honored us with his -presence,--befo' I kindle with the torch of my love these little -beacons which are to light each one of us on our way until another -Christmas season overtakes us; befo', I say, these sparks burst into -life, I want you fill yo' glasses (Chad had done that to the brim--even -little Katy's) and drink to the health and happiness of the lady on my -right, whose presence is always a benediction and whose loyal affection -is one of the sweetest treasures of my life!" - -Everybody except the dear lady stood up--even little Katy--and -Aunt Nancy's health was drunk amid her blushes, she remarking to -Mr. Klutchem that George would always embarrass her with these too -flattering speeches of his, which was literally true, this being the -fourth time I had heard similar sentiments expressed in the dear lady's -honor. - -This formal toast over, the Colonel's whole manner changed. He was no -longer the dignified host conducting the feast with measured grace. -With a spring in his voice and a certain unrestrained joyousness, he -called to Chad to bring him a light for his first lamplighter. Then, -with the paper wisp balanced in his hand, he began counting the several -candles, peeping into the branches with the manner of a boy. - -"One--two--three--fo'--yes, plenty of them, but we are goin' to begin -with the top one. This is yours, Nancy--this little white one on the -vehy tip-top. Gentlemen, this top candle is always reserved for Miss -Caarter," and the lighted taper kindled it into a blaze. "Just like yo' -eyes, my dear, burnin' steadily and warmin' everybody," and he tapped -her hand caressingly with his fingers. "And now, where is that darlin' -little Katy's--she must have a white one, too--here it is. Oh, what a -brave little candle! Not a bit of sputterin' or smoke. See, dearie, -what a beautiful blaze! May all your life be as bright and happy. And -here is Mr. Klutchem's right alongside of Katy's--a fine red one. There -he goes, steady and clear and strong--And Fitz--dear old Fitz. Let's -see what kind of a candle Fitz should have. Do you know, Fitz, if I -had my way, I'd light the whole tree for you. One candle is absurd for -Fitz! There, Fitz, it's off--another red one! All you millionnaires -must have red candles! And the Major! Ah, the Major!"--and he held out -his hand to me--"Let's see--yaller? No, that will never do for you, -Major. Pink? That's better. There now, see how fine you look and how -evenly you burn--just like yo' love, my dear boy, that never fails me." - -The circle of the table was now complete; each guest had a candle -alight, and each owner was studying the several wicks as if the future -could be read in their blaze: Aunt Nancy with a certain seriousness. To -her the custom was not new; the memories of her life were interwoven -with many just such top candles,--one I knew of myself, that went out -long, long ago, and has never been rekindled since. - -The Colonel stopped, and for a moment we thought he was about to take -his seat, although some wicks were still unlighted--his own among them. - -Instantly a chorus of voices went up: "You have forgotten your own, -Colonel--let me light one for you," etc., etc. Even little Katy had -noticed the omission, and was pulling at my sleeve to call attention -to the fact: the Colonel's candle was the only one she really cared -for. "One minute," cried the Colonel. "Time enough; the absent ones -fust"--and he stooped down and peered among the branches--"yes,--that's -just the very one. This candle, Mr. Klutchem, is for our old Mammy -Henny, who is at Caarter Hall, carin' for my property, and who must be -pretty lonely to-day--ah, there you go, Mammy!--blazin' away like one -o' yo' own fires!" - -Three candles now were all that were left unlighted; two of them side -by side on the same branch, a brown one and a white one, and below -these a yellow one standing all alone. - -The Colonel selected a fresh taper, kindled it in the flame of Aunt -Nancy's top candle, and turning to Chad, who was standing behind his -chair, said:-- - -"I'm goin' to put you, Chad, where you belong,--right alongside of me. -Here, Katy, darlin', take this taper and light this white candle for -me, and I'll light the brown one for Chad," and he picked up another -taper, lighted it, and handed it to the child. - -"Now!" - -As the two candles flashed into flame, the Colonel leaned over, and -holding out his hand to the old servant--boys together, these two, said -in a voice full of tenderness:-- - -"Many years together, Chad,--many years, old man." - -Chad's face broke into a smile as he pressed the Colonel's hand. - -"Thank ye, marster," was all he trusted himself to say--a title the -days of freedom had never robbed him of--and then he turned his head to -hide the tears. - -During the whole scene little Jim had stood on tiptoe, his eyes growing -brighter and brighter as each candle flashed into a blaze. Up to the -time of the lighting of the last guest candle his face had expressed -nothing but increasing delight. When, however, Mammy Henny's candle, -and then Chad's were kindled, I saw an expression of wonderment -cross his features which gradually settled into one of profound -disappointment. - -But the Colonel had not yet taken his seat. He had re-lighted the -taper--this time from Mammy Henny's candle--and stood with it in his -hand, peering into the branches as if looking for something he had lost. - -"Ah, here's another. I -wonder--who--this--little--yaller--candle--can--be--for," he said -slowly, looking around the room and accentuating each word. "I reckon -they're all here. Let me see--Aunt Nancy, Mr. Klutchem, Katy, Fitz, -the Major, Mammy Henny, Chad, and me. Yes--all here. Oh!"--and he -looked at the boy with a quizzical smile on his face--"I came vehy near -forgettin'. - -"This little yaller candle is Jim's." - - F. HOPKINSON SMITH in _Colonel Carter's Christmas_ - -_Copyright, 1903, by Charles Scribner's Sons_ - - - - -IX - -CHRISTMAS STORIES - -[Illustration: CHRISTMAS STORIES] - - Christmas Roses - The Fir Tree - The Christmas Banquet - A Christmas Eve in Exile - The Rehearsal of the Mummers' Play - -[Illustration] - -"It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if -any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, -and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, - - GOD BLESS US, - EVERY ONE." - - CHARLES DICKENS - - -Christmas Roses - -When our guests were gone Pelleas and I sat for some while beside the -drawing-room fire. They had brought us a box of Christmas roses and -these made sweet the room as if with a secret Spring--a Little Spring, -such as comes to us all, now and then, through the year. And it was the -enchanted hour, when Christmas eve has just passed and no one is yet -awakened by the universal note of Get-Your-Stocking-Before-Breakfast. - -"For that matter," Pelleas said, "every day is a loving cup, only some -of us see only one of its handles: Our own." - -And after a time:-- - -"Isn't there a legend," he wanted to know, "or if there isn't one there -ought to be one, that the first flowers were Christmas roses and that -you can detect their odour in all other flowers? I'm not sure," he -warmed to the subject, "but that they say if you look steadily, with -clear eyes, you can see all about every flower many little lines, in -the shape of a Christmas rose!" - -Of course nothing beautiful is difficult to believe. Even in the -windows of the great florists, where the dear flowers pose as if for -their portraits, we think that one looking closely through the glass -may see in their faces the spirit of the Christmas roses. And when the -flowers are made a gift of love the spirit is set free. Who knows? -Perhaps the gracious little spirit is in us all, waiting for its -liberty in our best gifts. - -And at thought of gifts I said, on Christmas eve of all times, what had -been for some time in my heart:-- - -"Pelleas, we ought--we really ought, you know, to make a new will." - -The word casts a veritable shadow on the page as I write it. Pelleas, -conscious of the same shadow, moved and frowned. - -"But why, Etarre?" he asked; "I had an uncle who lived to be ninety." - -"So will you," I said, "and still--" - -"He began translating Theocritus at ninety," Pelleas continued -convincingly. - -"I'll venture he had made his will by then, though," said I. - -"Is that any reason why I should make mine?" Pelleas demanded. "I -_never_ did the things my family did." - -"Like living until ninety?" I murmured. - -O, I could not love Pelleas if he was never unreasonable. It seems to -me that the privilege of unreason is one of the gifts of marriage; and -when I hear The Married chiding each other for the exercise of this -gift I long to cry: Is it not tiresome enough in all conscience to have -to keep up a brave show of reason for one's friends, without wearing a -uniform of logic in private? Laugh at each other's unreason for your -pastime, and Heaven bless you! - -Pelleas can do more than this: He can laugh at his own unreason. And -when he has done so:-- - -"Ah, well, I know we ought," he admitted, "but I do so object to the -literary style of wills." - -It has long been a sadness of ours that the law makes all the poor -dead talk alike in this last office of the human pleasure, so that -cartman and potentate and philosopher give away their chattels to the -same dreary choice of forms. No matter with what charming propriety -they have in life written little letters to accompany gifts, most -sensitively shading the temper of bestowal, yet in the majesty of -their passing they are forced into a very strait-jacket of phrasing so -that verily, to bequeath a thing to one's friend is well-nigh to throw -it at him. Yes, one of the drawbacks to dying is the diction of wills. - -Pelleas meditated for a moment and then laughed out. - -"Telegrams," said he, "are such a social convenience in life that I -don't see why they don't extend their function. Then all we should need -would be two witnesses, ready for anything, and some yellow telegraph -blanks, and a lawyer to file the messages whenever we should die, -telling all our friends what we wish them to have." - -At once we fell to planning the telegrams, quite as if the Eye of the -Law knew what it is to wrinkle at the corners. - -As, - - MRS. LAWRENCE KNIGHT, - Little Rosemont, - L. I. - -I wish you to have my mother's pearls and her mahogany and my Samarcand -rug and my Langhorne Plutarch and a kiss. - - AUNT ETARRE - -and - - MR. ERIC CHARTERS, - To His Club. - -Come to the house and get the Royal Sevres tea-service on which you -and Lisa had your first tea together and a check made out to you in my -check book in the library table drawer. - - UNCLE PELLEAS - -And so on, with the witnesses' names properly in the corners. - -"Perfect," said I with enthusiasm. "O Pelleas, let us get a bill -through to this effect." - -"But we may live to be only ninety, you know," he reminded me. - -We went to the window, presently, and threw it open to the chance of -hearing the bird of dawning singing all night long in the Park, which -is of course, in New York, where it sings on Star of Bethlehem night. -We did not hear it, but it is something to have been certain that it -was there. And as we closed the casement, - -"After all," Pelleas said seriously, "the Telegraph Will Bill would -have to do only with property. And a will ought to be concerned with -soberer matters." - -So it ought, in spite of its dress of diction, rather like the motley. - -"A man," Pelleas continued, "ought to have something more important to -will away than his house and his watch and his best bed. A man's poor -soul, now--unless he is an artist, which he probably is not--has no -chance verbally to leave anybody anything." - -"It makes its will every day," said I. - -"Even so," Pelleas contended, "it ought to die rich if it's anything of -a soul." - -And that is true enough. - -"Suppose," Pelleas suggested, "the telegrams were to contain something -like this: 'And from my spirit to yours I bequeath the hard-won -knowledge that you must be true from the beginning. But if by any -chance you have not been so, then you must be true from the moment that -you know.' Why not?" - -Why not, indeed? - -"I think that would be mine to give," Pelleas said reflectively; "and -what would yours be, Etarre?" he asked. - -At that I fell in sudden abashment. What could I say? What would I -will my poor life to mean to any one who chances to know that I have -lived at all? O, I dare say I should have been able to formulate many a -fine-sounding phrase about the passion for perfection, but confronted -with the necessity I could think of nothing save a few straggling -truths. - -"I don't know," said I uncertainly; "I am sure of so little, save -self-giving. I should like to bequeath some knowledge of the magic of -self-giving. Now Nichola," I hazarded, to evade the matter, "would no -doubt say: 'And from my soul to your soul this word about the universe: -_Helping is why_.'" - -"But you--you, Etarre," Pelleas persisted; "what would the real You -will to others, in this mortuary telegram?" - -And as I looked at him I knew. - -"O Pelleas," I said, "I think I would telegraph to every one: 'From my -spirit to your spirit, some understanding of the preciousness of love. -And the need to keep it true.'" - -I shall always remember with what gladness he turned to me. I wished -that his smile and our bright hearth and our Christmas roses might -bless every one. - -"I wanted you to say that," said Pelleas. - - ZONA GALE in _The Loves of Pelleas and Etarre_ - - -The Fir Tree - -Far away in the deep forest there once grew a pretty Fir Tree; the -situation was delightful, the sun shone full upon him, the breeze -played freely around him, and in the neighbourhood grew many companion -fir trees, some older, some younger. But the little Fir Tree was -not happy: he was always longing to be tall; he thought not of the -warm sun and the fresh air; he cared not for the merry, prattling -peasant children who came to the forest to look for strawberries and -raspberries. Except, indeed, sometimes, when after having filled their -pitchers, or threaded the bright berries on a straw, they would sit -down near the little Fir Tree, and say, "What a pretty little tree this -is!" and then the Fir Tree would feel very much vexed. - -Year by year he grew, a long green shoot sent he forth every year; for -you may always tell how many years a fir tree has lived by counting the -number of joints in its stem. - -"Oh, that I was as tall as the others are," sighed the little Tree, -"then I should spread out my branches so far, and my crown should look -out over the wide world around! the birds would build their nests among -my branches, and when the wind blew I should bend my head so grandly, -just as the others do!" - -He had not pleasure in the sunshine, in the song of the birds, or in -the birds, or in the red clouds that sailed over him every morning and -evening. - -In the winter time, when the ground was covered with the white, -glistening snow, there was a hare that would come continually -scampering about, and jumping right over the little Tree's head--and -that was most provoking! However, two winters passed away, and by the -third the Tree was so tall that the hare was obliged to run around it. -"Oh! to grow, to grow, to become tall and old, that is the only thing -in the world worth living for;"--so thought the Tree. - -The wood cutters came in the autumn and felled some among the largest -of the trees; this happened every year, and our young Fir, who was -by this time a tolerable height, shuddered when he saw those grand, -magnificent trees fall with a tremendous crash, crackling to the earth: -their boughs were then all cut off. Terribly naked, and lanky, and long -did the stem look after this--they could hardly be recognized. They -were laid one upon another in wagons, and horses drew them away, far, -far away, from the forest. Where could they be going? What might be -their fortunes? - -So next spring, when the Swallows and the Storks had returned from -abroad, the Tree asked them, saying, "Know you not whither they are -taken? have you not met them?" - -The swallows knew nothing about the matter, but the Stork looked -thoughtful for a moment, then nodded his head, and said: "Yes, I -believe I have seen them! As I was flying from Egypt to this place I -met several ships; those ships had splendid masts. I have little doubt -that they were the trees that you speak of; they smelled like fir wood. -I may congratulate you, for they sailed gloriously, quite gloriously!" - -"Oh, that I, too, were tall enough to sail upon the sea! Tell me what -it is, this sea, and what it looks like." - -"Thank you, it would take too long, a great deal!" said the Stork, and -away he stalked. - -"Rejoice in thy youth!" said the Sunbeams; "rejoice in thy luxuriant -youth, in the fresh life that is within thee!" - -And the Wind kissed the Tree, and the Dew wept tears over him, but the -Fir Tree understood them not. - -When Christmas approached, many quite young trees were felled--trees -which were some of them not so tall or of just the same height as the -young restless Fir Tree who was always longing to be away. These young -trees were chosen from the most beautiful, their branches were not cut -off, they were laid in a wagon, and horses drew them away, far, far -away from the forest. - -"Where are they going?" asked the Fir Tree. "They are not larger than -I am; indeed, one of them was much less. Why do they keep all their -branches? where can they be gone?" - -"We know! we know!" twittered the Sparrows. "We peeped in through -the windows of the town below! we know where they are gone! Oh, you -cannot think what honour and glory they receive! We looked through -the window-panes and saw them planted in a warm room, and decked out -with such beautiful things--gilded apples, sweetmeats, playthings, and -hundreds of bright candles!" - -"And then?" asked the Fir Tree, trembling in every bough; "and then? -what happened then?" - -"Oh, we saw no more. That was beautiful, beautiful beyond compare!" - -"Is this glorious lot destined to be mine?" cried the Fir Tree, with -delight. "This is far better than sailing over the sea. How I long for -the time! Oh, that I were even now in the wagon! that I were in the -warm room, honoured and adorned! and then--yes, then, something still -better must happen, else why should they take the trouble to decorate -me? it must be that something still greater, still more splendid, must -happen--but what? Oh, I suffer, I suffer with longing! I know not what -it is that I feel!" - -"Rejoice in our love!" said the Air and the Sunshine. "Rejoice in thy -youth and thy freedom!" - -But rejoice he never would: he grew and grew, in winter as in summer -he stood there clothed in green, dark green foliage; the people that -saw him said, "That is a beautiful tree!" and, next Christmas, he was -the first that was felled. The axe struck sharply through the wood, -the tree fell to the earth with a heavy groan; he suffered an agony, a -faintness, that he had never expected. He quite forgot to think of his -good fortune, he felt such sorrow at being compelled to leave his home, -the place whence he had sprung; he knew that he should never see again -those dear old comrades, or the little bushes and flowers that had -flourished under his shadow, perhaps not even the birds. Neither did he -find the journey by any means pleasant. - -The Tree first came to himself when, in the court-yard to which he -first was taken with the other trees, he heard a man say, "This is a -splendid one, the very thing we want!" - -Then came two smartly dressed servants, and carried the Fir Tree into -a large and handsome saloon. Pictures hung on the walls, and on the -mantel-piece stood large Chinese vases with lions on the lids; there -were rocking-chairs, silken sofas, tables covered with picture-books, -and toys that had cost a hundred times a hundred rix-thalers--at least -so said the children. And the Fir Tree was planted in a large cask -filled with sand, but no one could know that it was a cask, for it was -hung with green cloth and placed upon the carpet woven of many gay -colours. Oh, how the Tree trembled! What was to happen next? A young -lady, assisted by the servants, now began to adorn him. - -Upon some branches they hung little nets cut out of coloured paper, -every net filled with sugar-plums; from others gilded apples and -walnuts were suspended, looking just as if they had grown there; and -more than a hundred little wax tapers, red, blue, and white, were -placed here and there among the boughs. Dolls, that looked almost like -men and women,--the Tree had never seen such things before,--seemed -dancing to and fro among the leaves, and highest, on the summit, was -fastened a large star of gold tinsel; this was, indeed, splendid, -splendid beyond compare! "This evening," they said, "this evening it -will be lighted up." - -"Would that it were evening!" thought the Tree. "Would that the lights -were kindled, for then--what will happen then? Will the trees come out -of the forest to see me? Will the sparrows fly here and look in through -the window-panes? Shall I stand here adorned both winter and summer?" - -He thought much of it; he thought till he had bark-ache with longing, -and bark-aches with trees are as bad as head-aches with us. The candles -were lighted,--oh, what a blaze of splendour! the Tree trembled in all -his branches, so that one of them caught fire. "Oh, dear!" cried the -young lady, and it was extinguished in great haste. - -So the Tree dared not tremble again; he was so fearful of losing -something of his splendour, he felt almost bewildered in the midst -of all this glory and brightness. And now, all of a sudden, both -folding-doors were flung open, and a troop of children rushed in as -if they had a mind to jump over him. The older people followed more -quietly; the little ones stood quite silent, but only for a moment! -then their jubilee burst forth afresh; they shouted till the walls -re-echoed, they danced round the Tree, one present after another was -torn down. - -"What are they doing?" thought the Tree; "what will happen -now!" And the candles burned down to the branches, so they were -extinguished,--and the children were given leave to plunder the Tree. -Oh! they rushed upon him in such riot, that the boughs all crackled; -had not his summit been festooned with the gold star to the ceiling he -would have been overturned. - -The children danced and played about with their beautiful playthings; -no one thought any more of the Tree except the old nurse, who came and -peeped among the boughs, but it was only to see whether perchance a fig -or an apple had not been left among them. - -"A story, a story!" cried the children, pulling a short, thick man -toward the Tree. He sat down, saying, "It is pleasant to sit under the -shade of green boughs; besides, the Tree may be benefited by hearing -my story. But I shall only tell you one. Would you like to hear about -Ivedy Avedy, or about Humpty Dumpty, who fell downstairs, and yet came -to the throne and won the Princess?" - -"Ivedy Avedy!" cried some; "Humpty Dumpty!" cried others; there was -a famous uproar; the Fir Tree alone was silent, thinking to himself, -"Ought I to make a noise as they do? or ought I to do nothing at all?" -for he most certainly was one of the company, and had done all that had -been required of him. - -And the short, thick man told the story of Humpty Dumpty, who fell -downstairs, and yet came to the throne and won the Princess. And the -children clapped their hands and called out for another; they wanted -to hear the story of Ivedy Avedy also, but they did not get it. The -Fir Tree stood meanwhile quite silent and thoughtful--the birds in -the forest had never related anything like this. "Humpty Dumpty fell -downstairs, and yet was raised to the throne and won the Princess! -Yes, yes, strange things come to pass in the world!" thought the Fir -Tree, who believed it must all be true, because such a pleasant man -had related it. "Ah, ah! who knows but I may fall downstairs and win a -Princess?" And he rejoiced in the expectation of being next day again -decked out with candles and playthings, gold and fruit. - -"To-morrow I will not tremble," thought he. "I will rejoice in my -magnificence. To-morrow I shall again hear the story of Humpty Dumpty, -and perhaps that about Ivedy Avedy likewise," and the Tree mused -thereupon all night. - -In the morning the maids came in. - -"Now begins my state anew!" thought the Tree. But they dragged him out -of the room, up the stairs, and into an attic-chamber, and there thrust -him into a dark corner, where not a ray of light could penetrate. "What -can be the meaning of this?" thought the Tree. "What am I to do here? -What shall I hear in this place?" And he leant against the wall, and -thought, and thought. And plenty of time he had for thinking it over, -for day after day and night after night passed away, and yet no one -ever came into the room. At last somebody did come in, but it was only -to push into the corner some old trunks; the Tree was now entirely -hidden from sight, and apparently entirely forgotten. - -"It is now winter," thought the Tree. "The ground is hard and covered -with snow; they cannot plant me now, so I am to stay here in shelter -till the spring. Men are so clever and prudent! I only wish it were -not so dark and dreadfully lonely! not even a little hare! Oh, how -pleasant it was in the forest, when the snow lay on the ground and the -hare scampered about,--yes, even when he jumped over my head, though I -did not like it then. It is so terribly lonely here." - -"Squeak, squeak!" cried a little Mouse, just then gliding forward. -Another followed; they snuffed about the Fir Tree, and then slipped in -and out among the branches. - -"It is horribly cold!" said the little Mice. "Otherwise it is very -comfortable here. Don't you think so, you old Fir Tree?" - -"I am not old," said the Fir Tree; "there are many who are much older -than I am." - -"How came you here?" asked the Mice, "and what do you know?" They were -most uncommonly curious. "Tell us about the most delightful place on -earth. Have you ever been there? Have you been into the store room, -where cheeses lie on the shelves, and bacon hangs from the ceiling; -where one can dance over tallow candles; where one goes in thin and -comes out fat?" - -"I know nothing about that," said the Tree, "but I know the forest, -where the sun shines and where the birds sing!" and then he spoke of -his youth and its pleasures. The little Mice had never heard anything -like it before; they listened so attentively and said, "Well, to be -sure! how much you have seen! how happy you have been!" - -"Happy!" repeated the Fir Tree, in surprise, and he thought a moment -over all that he had been saying,--"Yes, on the whole, those were -pleasant times!" He then told them about the Christmas eve, when he -had been decked out with cakes and candles. - -"Oh!" cried the little Mice, "how happy you have been, you old Fir -Tree!" - -"I am not old at all!" returned the Fir; "it is only this winter that I -have left the forest; I am just in the prime of life!" - -"How well you can talk!" said the little Mice; and the next night they -came again, and brought with them four other little Mice, who wanted -also to hear the Tree's history; and the more the Tree spoke of his -youth in the forest, the more vividly he remembered it, and said, -"Yes, those were pleasant times! but they may come again, they may -come again! Humpty Dumpty fell downstairs, and for all that he won -the Princess; perhaps I, too, may win a Princess;" and then the Fir -Tree thought of a pretty little delicate Birch Tree that grew in the -forest,--a real Princess, a very lovely Princess, was she to the Fir -Tree. - -"Who is this Humpty Dumpty?" asked the little Mice. Whereupon he -related the tale; he could remember every word of it perfectly: and -the little Mice were ready to jump to the top of the Tree for joy. The -night following several more Mice came, and on Sunday came also two -Rats; they, however, declared that the story was not at all amusing, -which much vexed the little Mice, who, after hearing their opinion, -could not like it so well either. - -"Do you know only that one story?" asked the Rats. - -"Only that one!" answered the Tree; "I heard it on the happiest evening -of my life, though I did not then know how happy I was." - -"It is a miserable story! Do you know none about pork and tallow?--no -store-room story?" - -"No," said the Tree. - -"Well, then, we have heard enough of it!" returned the Rats, and they -went their ways. - -The little Mice, too, never came again. The Tree sighed. "It was -pleasant when they sat round me, those busy little Mice, listening to -my words. Now that, too, is all past! however, I shall have pleasure in -remembering it, when I am taken away from this place." - -But when would that be? One morning, people came and routed out the -lumber room; the trunks were taken away, the Tree, too, was dragged out -of the corner; they threw him carelessly on the floor, but one of the -servants picked him up and carried him downstairs. Once more he beheld -the light of day. - -"Now life begins again!" thought the Tree; he felt the fresh air, the -warm sunbeams--he was out in the court. All happened so quickly that -the Tree quite forgot to look at himself,--there was so much to look -at all around. The court joined a garden, everything was so fresh and -blooming, the roses clustered so bright and so fragrant round the -trellis-work, the lime-trees were in full blossom, and the swallows -flew backwards and forwards, twittering, "Quirri-virri-vit, my beloved -is come!" but it was not the Fir Tree whom they meant. - -"I shall live! I shall live!" He was filled with delighted hope; he -tried to spread out his branches, but, alas! they were all dried up -and yellow. He was thrown down upon a heap of weeds and nettles. The -star of gold tinsel that had been left fixed on his crown now sparkled -brightly in the sunshine. - -Some merry children were playing in the court, the same who at -Christmas time had danced round the Tree. One of the youngest now -perceived the gold star, and ran to tear it off. - -"Look at it, still fastened to the ugly old Christmas Tree!" cried he, -trampling upon the boughs till they broke under his boots. - -And the Tree looked on all the flowers of the garden now blooming in -the freshness of their beauty; he looked upon himself, and he wished -from his heart that he had been left to wither alone in the dark corner -of the lumber room; he called to mind his happy forest life, the merry -Christmas eve, and the little Mice who had listened so eagerly when he -related the story of Humpty Dumpty. - -"Past, all past!" said the poor Tree. "Had I but been happy, as I might -have been! Past, all past!" - -And the servant came and broke the Tree into small pieces, heaped -them up and set fire to them. And the Tree groaned deeply, and every -groan sounded like a little shot; the children all ran up to the place -and jumped about in front of the blaze, looking into it and crying, -"Piff, piff!" But at each of those heavy groans the Fir Tree thought -of a bright summer's day, or a starry winter's night in the forest, of -Christmas eve, or of Humpty Dumpty, the only story that he knew and -could relate. And at last the Tree was burned. - -The boys played about the court; on the bosom of the youngest sparkled -the gold star that the Tree had worn on the happiest evening of his -life; but that was past, and the Tree was past, and the story also, -past! past! for all stories must come to an end, some time or other. - - HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN - - -The Christmas Banquet - -In a certain old gentleman's last will and testament there appeared -a bequest, which, as his final thought and deed, was singularly in -keeping with a long life of melancholy eccentricity. He devised a -considerable sum for establishing a fund, the interest of which was to -be expended, annually forever, in preparing a Christmas Banquet for ten -of the most miserable persons that could be found. It seemed not to be -the testator's purpose to make these half a score of sad hearts merry, -but to provide that the storm of fierce expression of human discontent -should not be drowned, even for that one holy and joyful day, amid the -acclamations of festal gratitude which all Christendom sends up. And -he desired, likewise, to perpetuate his own remonstrance against the -earthly course of Providence, and his sad and sour dissent from those -systems of religion or philosophy which either find sunshine in the -world or draw it down from heaven. - -The task of inviting the guests, or of selecting among such as might -advance their claims to partake of this dismal hospitality, was -confided to the two trustees or stewards of the fund. These gentlemen, -like their deceased friend, were sombre humorists, who made it their -principal occupation to number the sable threads in the web of human -life, and drop all the golden ones out of the reckoning. They performed -their present office with integrity and judgment. The aspect of the -assembled company, on the day of the first festival, might not, it is -true, have satisfied every beholder that these were especially the -individuals, chosen forth from all the world, whose griefs were worthy -to stand as indicators of the mass of human suffering. Yet, after -due consideration, it could not be disputed that here was a variety -of hopeless discomfort, which, if it arose from causes apparently -inadequate, was thereby only the shrewder imputation against the nature -and mechanism of life. - -The arrangements and decorations of the banquet were probably intended -to signify that death in life which had been the testator's definition -of existence. The hall, illuminated by torches, was hung round with -curtains of deep and dusky purple, and adorned with branches of -cypress and wreaths of artificial flowers, imitative of such as used -to be strown over the dead. A sprig of parsley was laid by every -plate. The main reservoir of wine was a sepulchral urn of silver, -whence the liquor was distributed around the table in small vases, -accurately copied from those that held the tears of ancient mourners. -Neither had the stewards--if it were their taste that arranged these -details--forgotten the fantasy of the old Egyptians, who seated a -skeleton at every festive board, and mocked their own merriment with -the imperturbable grin of a death's-head. Such a fearful guest, -shrouded in a black mantle, sat now at the head of the table. It was -whispered, I know not with what truth, that the testator himself -had once walked the visible world with the machinery of that same -skeleton, and that it was one of the stipulations of his will, that -he should thus be permitted to sit, from year to year, at the banquet -which he had instituted. If so, it was perhaps covertly implied that -he had cherished no hopes of bliss beyond the grave to compensate -for the evils which he felt or imagined here. And if, in their -bewildered conjectures as to the purpose of earthly existence, the -banqueters should throw aside the veil, and cast an inquiring glance -at this figure of death, as seeking thence the solution otherwise -unattainable, the only reply would be a stare of the vacant eye caverns -and a grin of the skeleton jaws. Such was the response that the dead -man had fancied himself to receive when he asked of Death to solve the -riddle of his life; and it was his desire to repeat it when the guests -of his dismal hospitality should find themselves perplexed with the -same question. - -"What means that wreath?" asked several of the company, while viewing -the decorations of the table. - -They alluded to a wreath of cypress, which was held on high by a -skeleton arm, protruding from within the black mantle. - -"It is a crown," said one of the stewards, "not for the worthiest, but -for the wofulest, when he shall prove his claim to it." - -The guest earliest bidden to the festival was a man of soft and -gentle character, who had not energy to struggle against the heavy -despondency to which his temperament rendered him liable; and therefore -with nothing outwardly to excuse him from happiness, he had spent a -life of quiet misery that made his blood torpid, and weighed upon his -breath, and sat like a ponderous night fiend upon every throb of his -unresisting heart. His wretchedness seemed as deep as his original -nature, if not identical with it. It was the misfortune of a second -guest to cherish within his bosom a diseased heart, which had become so -wretchedly sore that the continual and unavoidable rubs of the world, -the blow of an enemy, the careless jostle of a stranger, and even the -faithful and loving touch of a friend, alike made ulcers in it. As is -the habit of people thus afflicted, he found his chief employment in -exhibiting these miserable sores to any one who would give themselves -the pain of viewing them. A third guest was a hypochondriac, whose -imagination wrought necromancy in his outward and inward world, and -caused him to see monstrous faces in the household fire, and dragons in -the clouds of sunset, and fiends in the guise of beautiful women, and -something ugly or wicked beneath all the pleasant surfaces of nature. -His neighbor at table was one who, in his early youth, had trusted -mankind too much, and hoped too highly in their behalf, and, in meeting -with disappointments, had become desperately soured.... - -One other guest remains to be described. He was a young man of smooth -brow, fair cheek, and fashionable mien. So far as his exterior -developed him, he might much more suitably have found a place at some -merry Christmas table, than have been numbered among the blighted, -fate-stricken, fancy-tortured set of ill-starred banqueters. Murmurs -arose among the guests as they noted the glance of general scrutiny -which the intruder threw over his companions. What had he to do among -them? Why did not the skeleton of the dead founder of the feast unbend -its rattling joints, arise, and motion the unwelcome stranger from the -board? "Shameful!" said the morbid man, while a new ulcer broke out in -his heart. "He comes to mock us!--we shall be the jest of his tavern -friends!--he will make a farce of our miseries, and bring it out upon -the stage!" - -"O, never mind him!" said the hypochondriac, smiling sourly. "He shall -feast from yonder tureen of viper soup; and if there is a fricassee -of scorpions on the table, pray let him have his share of it. For the -dessert, he shall taste the apples of Sodom. Then, if he like our -Christmas fare, let him return again next year!" - -"Trouble him not," murmured the melancholy man, with gentleness. "What -matters it whether the consciousness of misery come a few years sooner -or later? If this youth deem himself happy now, yet let him sit with us -for the sake of the wretchedness to come." - -The poor idiot approached the young man with that mournful aspect of -vacant inquiry which his face continually wore and which caused people -to say that he was always in search of his missing wits. After no -little examination he touched the stranger's hand, but immediately drew -back his own, shaking his head and shivering. - -"Cold, cold, cold!" muttered the idiot. - -The young man shivered too, and smiled. - -"Gentlemen--and you, madam," said one of the stewards of the festival, -"do not conceive so ill either of our caution or judgment, as to -imagine that we have admitted this young stranger--Gervayse Hastings -by name--without a full investigation and thoughtful balance of his -claims. Trust me, not a guest at the table is better entitled to his -seat." - -The steward's guaranty was perforce satisfactory. The company, -therefore, took their places, and addressed themselves to the serious -business of the feast, but were soon disturbed by the hypochondriac, -who thrust back his chair, complaining that a dish of stewed toads and -vipers was set before him, and that there was green ditch water in -his cup of wine. This mistake being amended, he quietly resumed his -seat. The wine, as it flowed freely from the sepulchral urn, seemed -to come imbued with all gloomy inspirations; so that its influence -was not to cheer, but either to sink the revellers into a deeper -melancholy, or elevate their spirits to an enthusiasm of wretchedness. -The conversation was various. They told sad stories about people who -might have been worthy guests at such a festival as the present. They -talked of grisly incidents in human history; of strange crimes, which, -if truly considered, were but convulsions of agony; of some lives -that had been altogether wretched, and of others, which, wearing a -general semblance of happiness, had yet been deformed, sooner or later, -by misfortune, as by the intrusion of a grim face at a banquet; of -death-bed scenes, and what dark intimations might be gathered from the -words of dying men; of suicide, and whether the more eligible mode were -by halter, knife, poison, drowning, gradual starvation, or the fumes -of charcoal. The majority of the guests, as is the custom with people -thoroughly and profoundly sick at heart, were anxious to make their own -woes the theme of discussion, and prove themselves most excellent in -anguish. The misanthropist went deep into the philosophy of evil, and -wandered about in the darkness, with now and then a gleam of discolored -light hovering on ghastly shapes and horrid scenery. Many a miserable -thought, such as men have stumbled upon from age to age, did he now -rake up again, and gloat over it as an inestimable gem, a diamond, a -treasure far preferable to those bright, spiritual revelations of a -better world, which are like precious stones from heaven's pavement. -And then, amid his lore of wretchedness, he hid his face and wept. - - * * * * * - -The banquet drew to its conclusion, and the guests departed. Scarcely -had they stepped across the threshold of the hall, when the scene -that had there passed seemed like the vision of a sick fancy, or an -exhalation from a stagnant heart. Now and then, however, during the -year that ensued, these melancholy people caught glimpses of one -another, transient, indeed, but enough to prove that they walked the -earth with the ordinary allotment of reality. Sometimes a pair of -them came face to face, while stealing through the evening twilight, -enveloped in their sable cloaks. Sometimes they casually met in -church-yards. Once, also, it happened that two of the dismal banqueters -mutually started at recognizing each other in the noonday sunshine of -a crowded street, stalking there like ghosts astray. Doubtless they -wondered why the skeleton did not come abroad at noonday too. - -But whenever the necessity of their affairs compelled these Christmas -guests into the bustling world, they were sure to encounter the young -man who had so unaccountably been admitted to the festival. They saw -him among the gay and fortunate; they caught the sunny sparkle of -his eye; they heard the light and careless tones of his voice, and -muttered to themselves with such indignation as only the aristocracy of -wretchedness could kindle--"The traitor! The vile impostor! Providence, -in its own good time, may give him a right to feast among us!" But -the young man's unabashed eye dwelt upon their gloomy figures as they -passed him, seeming to say, perchance with somewhat of a sneer, "First, -know my secret!--then, measure your claims with mine!" - -The step of Time stole onward, and soon brought merry Christmas round -again, with glad and solemn worship in the churches, and sports, games, -festivals, and everywhere the bright face of joy beside the household -fire. Again likewise the hall, with its curtains of dusky purple, -was illuminated by the death torches gleaming on the sepulchral -decorations of the banquet. The veiled skeleton sat in state, lifting -the cypress wreath above its head, as the guerdon of some guest -illustrious in the qualifications which there claimed precedence. -As the stewards deemed the world inexhaustible in misery, and were -desirous of recognizing it in all its forms, they had not seen fit to -reassemble the company of the former year. New faces now threw their -gloom across the table. - -There was a man of nice conscience, who bore a blood stain in his -heart--the death of a fellow-creature--which, for his more exquisite -torture, had chanced with such a peculiarity of circumstances, that -he could not absolutely determine whether his will had entered into -the deed or not. Therefore, his whole life was spent in the agony of -an inward trial for murder, with a continual sifting of the details -of his terrible calamity, until his mind had no longer any thought, -nor his soul any emotion, disconnected with it. There was a mother, -too--but a desolation now--who, many years before, had gone out on -a pleasure party, and, returning, found her infant smothered in its -little bed. And ever since she has been tortured with the fantasy -that her buried baby lay smothering in its coffin. Then there was an -aged lady, who had lived from time immemorial with a constant tremor -quivering through her frame. It was terrible to discern her dark shadow -tremulous upon the wall; her lips, likewise, were tremulous; and the -expression of her eye seemed to indicate that her soul was trembling -too. Owing to the bewilderment and confusion which made almost a chaos -of her intellect, it was impossible to discover what dire misfortune -had thus shaken her nature to its depths; so that the stewards had -admitted her to the table, not from any acquaintance with her history, -but on the safe testimony of her miserable aspect. Some surprise was -expressed at the presence of a bluff, red-faced gentleman, a certain -Mr. Smith, who had evidently the fat of many a rich feast within him, -and the habitual twinkle of whose eye betrayed a disposition to break -forth into uproarious laughter for little cause or none. It turned out, -however, that with the best possible flow of spirits, our poor friend -was afflicted with a physical disease of the heart, which threatened -instant death on the slightest cachinnatory indulgence, or even that -titillation of the bodily frame produced by merry thoughts. In this -dilemma he had sought admittance to the banquet, on the ostensible plea -of his irksome and miserable state, but, in reality, with the hope of -imbibing a life-preserving melancholy.... - -And now appeared a figure which we must acknowledge as our acquaintance -of the former festival. It was Gervayse Hastings, whose presence had -then caused so much question and criticism, and who now took his place -with the composure of one whose claims were satisfactory to himself -and must needs be allowed by others. Yet his easy and unruffled face -betrayed no sorrow. The well-skilled beholders gazed a moment into -his eyes and shook their heads, to miss the unuttered sympathy--the -countersign, never to be falsified--of those whose hearts are cavern -mouths, through which they descend into a region of illimitable woe and -recognize other wanderers there. - -"Who is this youth?" asked the man with a blood stain on his -conscience. "Surely he has never gone down into the depths! I know all -the aspects of those who have passed through the dark valley. By what -right is he among us?" - -"Ah, it is a sinful thing to come hither without a sorrow," murmured -the aged lady, in accents that partook of the eternal tremor which -pervaded her whole being. "Depart, young man! Your soul has never been -shaken. I tremble so much the more to look at you." - -"His soul shaken! No; I'll answer for it," said bluff Mr. Smith, -pressing his hand upon his heart and making himself as melancholy as he -could, for fear of a fatal explosion of laughter. "I know the lad well; -he has as fair prospects as any young man about town, and has no more -right among us miserable creatures than the child unborn. He never was -miserable and probably never will be!" - -"Our honored guests," interposed the stewards, "pray have patience with -us, and believe, at least, that our deep veneration for the sacredness -of this solemnity would preclude any wilful violation of it. Receive -this young man to your table. It may not be too much to say, that no -guest here would exchange his own heart for the one that beats within -that youthful bosom!" - -"I'd call it a bargain, and gladly, too," muttered Mr. Smith, with a -perplexing mixture of sadness and mirthful conceit. "A plague upon -their nonsense! My own heart is the only really miserable one in the -company; it will certainly be the death of me at last." - -Nevertheless, as on the former occasion, the judgment of the stewards -being without appeal, the company sat down. The obnoxious guest made -no more attempt to obtrude his conversation on those about him, but -appeared to listen to the table talk with peculiar assiduity, as if -some inestimable secret, otherwise beyond his reach, might be conveyed -in a casual word. And in truth, to those who could understand and -value it, there was rich matter in the upgushings and outpourings of -these initiated souls to whom sorrow had been a talisman, admitting -them into spiritual depths which no other spell can open. Sometimes out -of the midst of densest gloom there flashed a momentary radiance, pure -as crystal, bright as the flame of stars, and shedding such a glow upon -the mysteries of life that the guests were ready to exclaim, "Surely -the riddle is on the point of being solved!" At such illuminated -intervals the saddest mourners felt it to be revealed that mortal -griefs are but shadowy and external; no more than the sable robes -voluminously shrouding a certain divine reality and thus indicating -what might otherwise be altogether invisible to mortal eye. - -"Just now," remarked the trembling old woman, "I seemed to see beyond -the outside. And then my everlasting tremor passed away!" - -"Would that I could dwell always in these momentary gleams of light!" -said the man of stricken conscience. "Then the blood stain in my heart -would be washed clean away." - -This strain of conversation appeared so unintelligibly absurd to good -Mr. Smith, that he burst into precisely the fit of laughter which his -physicians had warned him against, as likely to prove instantaneously -fatal. In effect, he fell back in his chair a corpse, with a broad -grin upon his face, while his ghost, perchance, remained beside it -bewildered at its unpremeditated exit. This catastrophe of course broke -up the festival. - -"How is this? You do not tremble?" observed the tremulous old woman -to Gervayse Hastings, who was gazing at the dead man with singular -intentness. "Is it not awful to see him so suddenly vanish out of the -midst of life--this man of flesh and blood, whose earthly nature was -so warm and strong? There is a never-ending tremor in my soul, but it -trembles afresh at this! And you are calm!" - -"Would that he could teach me somewhat!" said Gervayse Hastings, -drawing a long breath. "Men pass before me like shadows on the wall; -their actions, passions, feelings are flickerings of the light, and -then they vanish! Neither the corpse, nor yonder skeleton, nor this old -woman's everlasting tremor, can give me what I seek." - -And then the company departed. - -We cannot linger to narrate, in such detail, more circumstances of -these singular festivals, which in accordance with the founder's will, -continued to be kept with the regularity of an established institution. -In process of time the stewards adopted the custom of inviting, from -far and near, those individuals whose misfortunes were prominent above -other men's, and whose mental and moral development might, therefore, -be supposed to possess a corresponding interest. The exiled noble of -the French Revolution, and the broken soldier of the Empire, were alike -represented at the table. Fallen monarchs, wandering about the earth, -have found places at that forlorn and miserable feast. The statesman, -when his party flung him off, might, if he chose it, be once more a -great man for the space of a single banquet. Aaron Burr's name appears -on the record at a period when his ruin--the profoundest and most -striking, with more of moral circumstances in it than that of almost -any other man--was complete in his lonely age. Stephen Girard, when -his wealth weighed upon him like a mountain, once sought admittance of -his own accord. It is not probable, however, that these men had any -lesson to teach in the lore of discontent and misery which might not -equally well have been studied in the common walks of life. Illustrious -unfortunates attract a wider sympathy, not because their griefs are -more intense, but because, being set on lofty pedestals, they the -better serve mankind as instances and bywords of calamity. - -It concerns our present purpose to say that, at each successive -festival, Gervayse Hastings showed his face gradually changing from the -smooth beauty of his youth to the thoughtful comeliness of manhood, -and thence to the bald, impressive dignity of age. He was the only -individual invariably present. Yet on every occasion there were -murmurs, both from those who knew his character and position, and from -them whose hearts shrank back as denying his companionship in their -mystic fraternity. - -"Who is this impassive man?" had been asked a hundred times. "Has he -suffered? Has he sinned? There are no traces of either. Then wherefore -is he here?" - -"You must inquire of the stewards or of himself," was the constant -reply. "We seem to know him well here in our city and know nothing of -him but what is creditable and fortunate. Yet hither he comes, year -after year, to this gloomy banquet, and sits among the guests like a -marble statue. Ask yonder skeleton; perhaps that may solve the riddle!" - -It was in truth a wonder. The life of Gervayse Hastings was not merely -a prosperous, but a brilliant one. Everything had gone well with -him. He was wealthy, far beyond the expenditure that was required by -habits of magnificence, a taste of rare purity and cultivation, a love -of travel, a scholar's instinct to collect a splendid library, and, -moreover, what seemed a magnificent liberality to the distressed. He -had sought happiness, and not vainly, if a lovely and tender wife, and -children of fair promise, could insure it. He had, besides, ascended -above the limit which separates the obscure from the distinguished, -and had won a stainless reputation in affairs of the widest public -importance. Not that he was a popular character, or had within him the -mysterious attributes which are essential to that species of success. -To the public he was a cold abstraction, wholly destitute of those -rich hues of personality, that living warmth, and the peculiar faculty -of stamping his own heart's impression on a multitude of hearts by -which the people recognize their favorites. And it must be owned that, -after his most intimate associates had done their best to know him -thoroughly, and love him warmly, they were startled to find how little -hold he had upon their affections. They approved, they admired, but -still in those moments when the human spirit most craves reality, they -shrank back from Gervayse Hastings, as powerless to give them what they -sought. It was the feeling of distrustful regret with which we should -draw back the hand after extending it, in an illusive twilight, to -grasp the hand of a shadow upon the wall. - -As the superficial fervency of youth decayed, this peculiar effect of -Gervayse Hastings's character grew more perceptible. His children, -when he extended his arms, came coldly to his knees, but never climbed -them of their own accord. His wife wept secretly, and almost adjudged -herself a criminal because she shivered in the chill of his bosom. He, -too, occasionally appeared not unconscious of the chillness of his -moral atmosphere, and willing, if it might be so, to warm himself at a -kindly fire. But age stole onward and benumbed him more and more. As -the hoar-frost began to gather on him his wife went to her grave, and -was doubtless warmer there; his children either died or were scattered -to different homes of their own; and old Gervayse Hastings, unscathed -by grief,--alone, but needing no companionship,--continued his steady -walk through life, and still on every Christmas day attended at the -dismal banquet. His privilege as a guest had become prescriptive now. -Had he claimed the head of the table, even the skeleton would have been -ejected from its seat. - -Finally, at the merry Christmas-tide, when he had numbered fourscore -years complete, this pale, high-browed, marble-featured old man -once more entered the long-frequented hall, with the same impassive -aspect that had called forth so much dissatisfied remark at his first -attendance. Time, except in matters merely external, had done nothing -for him, either of good or evil. As he took his place he threw a calm, -inquiring glance around the table, as if to ascertain whether any -guest had yet appeared, after so many unsuccessful banquets, who might -impart to him the mystery--the deep, warm secret--the life within -the life--which, whether manifested in joy or sorrow, is what gives -substance to a world of shadows. - -"My friends," said Gervayse Hastings, assuming a position which his -long conversance with the festival caused to appear natural, "you are -welcome! I drink to you all in this cup of sepulchral wine." - -The guests replied courteously, but still in a manner that proved them -unable to receive the old man as a member of their sad fraternity. It -may be well to give the reader an idea of the present company at the -banquet. - -One was formerly a clergyman, enthusiastic in his profession, and -apparently of the genuine dynasty of those old puritan divines whose -faith in their calling, and stern exercise of it, had placed them among -the mighty of the earth. But yielding to the speculative tendency of -the age, he had gone astray from the firm foundation of an ancient -faith, and wandered into a cloud region, where everything was misty -and deceptive, ever mocking him with a semblance of reality, but still -dissolving when he flung himself upon it for support and rest. His -instinct and early training demanded something steadfast; but, looking -forward, he beheld vapors piled on vapors, and behind him an impassable -gulf between the man of yesterday and to-day, on the borders of which -he paced to and fro, sometimes wringing his hands in agony, and often -making his own woe a theme of scornful merriment. This surely was a -miserable man.... - -There was a modern philanthropist, who had become so deeply sensible -of the calamities of thousands and millions of his fellow-creatures, -and of the impracticableness of any general measures for their relief, -that he had no heart to do what little good lay immediately within -his power, but contented himself with being miserable for sympathy. -Near him sat a gentleman in a predicament hitherto unprecedented, but -of which the present epoch probably affords numerous examples. Ever -since he was of capacity to read a newspaper this person had prided -himself on his consistent adherence to one political party, but, in -the confusion of these latter days, had got bewildered and knew not -whereabouts his party was. This wretched condition, so morally desolate -and disheartening to a man who has long accustomed himself to merge his -individuality in the mass of a great body, can only be conceived by -such as have experienced it. His next companion was a popular orator -who had lost his voice, and--as it was pretty much all that he had -to lose--had fallen into a state of hopeless melancholy. The table -was likewise graced by two of the gentler sex--one, a half-starved, -consumptive seamstress, the representative of thousands just as -wretched; the other, a woman of unemployed energy, who found herself in -the world with nothing to achieve, nothing to enjoy, and nothing even -to suffer. She had, therefore, driven herself to the verge of madness -by dark broodings over the wrongs of her sex, and its exclusion from a -proper field of action.... - -[Illustration: MADONNA DELLA SEDIA. _Raphael._] - -In their own way, these were as wretched a set of people as ever had -assembled at the festival. There they sat, with the veiled skeleton of -the founder holding aloft the cypress wreath, at one end of the table, -and at the other, wrapped in furs, the withered figure of Gervayse -Hastings, stately, calm, and cold, impressing the company with awe, yet -so little interesting their sympathy that he might have vanished into -thin air without their once exclaiming, "Whither is he gone?" - -"Sir," said the philanthropist, addressing the old man, "you have been -so long a guest at this annual festival, and have thus been conversant -with so many varieties of human affliction, that, not improbably, you -have thence derived some great and important lessons. How blessed were -your lot could you reveal a secret by which all this mass of woe might -be removed!" - -"I know of but one misfortune," answered Gervayse Hastings, quietly, -"and that is my own." - -"Your own!" rejoined the philanthropist. "And, looking back on -your serene and prosperous life, how can you claim to be the sole -unfortunate of the human race?" - -"You will not understand it," replied Gervayse Hastings, feebly, and -with a singular inefficiency of pronunciation, and sometimes putting -one word for another. "None have understood it--not even those who -experience the like. It is a chillness--a want of earnestness--a -feeling as if what should be my heart were a thing of vapor--a haunting -perception of unreality! Thus seeming to possess all that other men -have--all that other men aim at--I have really possessed nothing, -neither joy nor griefs. All things, all persons--as was truly said to -me at this table long and long ago--have been like shadows flickering -on the wall. It was so with my wife and children--with those who seemed -my friends: it is so with yourselves, whom I see now before me. Neither -have I myself any real existence, but am a shadow like the rest." - -"And how is it with your views of a future life?" inquired the -speculative clergyman. - -"Worse than with you," said the old man, in a hollow and feeble tone; -"for I cannot conceive it earnestly enough to feel either hope or fear. -Mine--mine is the wretchedness! This cold heart--this unreal life! Ah! -it grows colder still." - -It so chanced that at this juncture the decayed ligaments of the -skeleton gave way, and the dry bones fell together in a heap, thus -causing the dusty wreath of cypress to drop upon the table. The -attention of the company being thus diverted for a single instant from -Gervayse Hastings, they perceived, on turning again towards him, that -the old man had undergone a change. His shadow had ceased to flicker on -the wall. - - NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE - - -A Christmas Eve in Exile - -It is Christmas Eve in a large city of Bavaria. Along the streets, -white with snow, in the confusion of the fog, among the rattle of -carriages and the ringing of bells, the crowd hurries joyously towards -the open-air roast-meat shops, the holiday stalls and booths. Brushing -with a light rustling sound the shops decorated with ribbons and -flowers, branches of green holly and whole spruce trees covered with -pendants move along in the arms of passers-by, rising above all the -heads, like a shadow of the Thuringian Forests, a touch of nature in -the artificial life of winter. Night is falling. Over there, behind -the gardens of the "Résidence," one sees still a glow of the setting -sun, deep red through the fog; and throughout the city there is such -gayety, so many festive preparations, that every light that flames up -at a window seems to hang on a Christmas tree. But this is no ordinary -Christmas. We are in the year of Grace 1870; and the birth of Christ -is but a pretext the more to drink to the illustrious Van der Than, -and to celebrate the triumph of Bavarian arms. Noël! Noël! Even the -Jews in the lower city join in the merriment. There is old Augustus -Cahn, turning the corner at "The Blue Grape" on the run. Never have -his ferret-eyes sparkled as to-night. Never has his brush-like queue -wriggled so merrily. On his sleeve, worn threadbare by the cords of his -wallet, hangs a tidy little basket, full to the brim, covered with a -yellow napkin, with the neck of a bottle and a sprig of holly peeping -out. - -What the deuce is the old usurer going to do with all that? Is he, too, -going to celebrate Christmas? Will he gather together his friends, -his family, to drink to the German Fatherland? But no. Every one -knows well that old Cahn has no Fatherland. _His_ Fatherland is his -strong-box. He has neither family nor friends; nothing but creditors. -His sons, his associates too, left three months ago with the army. Down -there behind the gun-carriages of the home guard they ply their trade, -selling brandy, buying watches, and at night, after a battle, going -out to rifle the pockets of the dead and to empty the knapsacks that -have fallen in the trenches by the way. Father Cahn, too old to follow -his children, has remained in Bavaria, and there he does a magnificent -business with the French prisoners. Always prowling about the barracks, -it is he who buys watches, medals, money-orders. One sees him gliding -through the hospitals and among the ambulances. He approaches the -bedside of the wounded and asks them very softly in his hideous -gibberish:-- - -"Haf you anydings to zell?" - -Look! At this very moment, when you see him trotting so briskly with -his basket under his arm, it is because the Military Hospital closes -at five o'clock; and there are two Frenchmen waiting up there in that -big black building, with its narrow-barred windows, where Christmas to -illumine its coming has only the pale lights which guard the bedside of -the dying.... - -These two Frenchmen are Salvette and Bernadou. They are infantrymen, -two Provençals of the same village, enrolled in the same battalion, and -wounded by the same shell. Only, Salvette is the stronger; and already -he begins to get up, to make some steps from his bed to the window. -Bernadou, for his part, will not recover. Between the wan curtains of -his hospital cot his face looks thinner, more languid, day by day; and -when he speaks of his country, of the return, it is with the sad smile -of the invalid, in which there is more of resignation than of hope. -Nevertheless, to-day he is a little animated, thinking of the beautiful -Christmas festival, which in our Provençal country seems like a great -bonfire lighted in the midst of winter, recalling the midnight mass, -the church decorated, glowing with light, the dark village streets -filled with people, then the long watch about the table, the three -traditional torches, the "_aioli_,"[2] the snails, and the pretty -ceremony of the Yule log, which the grandfather carries about the -house, and anoints with steaming wine. - -[2] A mayonnaise sauce richly flavored with garlic. - -"Ah! my poor Salvette, what a sad Christmas we are going to have this -year!... If we only had enough to buy a white roll and a bottle of -claret!... How happy I would be if, once more, before taps sound for -me, I could drink with you over the Yule log!" - -The sick man's eyes brighten as he speaks of the wine and the white -bread. But how is it to be done? They have nothing left--poor -fellows!--no money, no watch. To be sure, Salvette still keeps in the -lining of his jacket a money-order for forty francs. But that is for -the day when they shall be free; for the first halt that they make in -a French inn. That money is sacred. No way to touch that. But poor -Bernadou is so ill! Who knows if he will ever be able to take up the -journey home? And since here is a beautiful Christmas which they can -still celebrate together, were it not best to profit by it? - -So, without a word to his countryman, Salvette rips open his tunic, -takes out the order, and when old Cahn has come, as every morning, -to make his round in the halls, after long arguments and whispered -discussions he slips into the old Jew's hand this square of paper, -yellowed and stiff, smelling of powder, and stained with blood. From -that moment Salvette maintains an air of mystery. He rubs his hands and -laughs to himself as he looks at Bernadou. And now, as day falls, he is -there on watch, his forehead pressed against the narrow panes until he -sees, in the dusk of the deserted courtyard, old Augustus Cahn, all out -of breath, a little basket on his arm. - -This solemn midnight, which sounds from all the bells of the city, -falls mournfully in this white camp of suffering. The hospital ward -is silent, lighted only by the night lamps hung from the ceiling. -Great wandering shadows float over the beds and the bare walls, with -an incessant vibration which seems the oppressed breathing of all -the sufferers stretched out there. At moments dreams talk aloud, -nightmares groan, while from the street rises a vague murmur, steps and -voices, confused in the cold, resonant air as if under the porch of a -cathedral. One feels the devout hastening, the mystery of a religious -festival, intruding upon the hour of sleep and throwing upon the -darkened city the dim light of lanterns and the glow of church windows. - -"Art thou asleep, Bernadou?".... - -Very gently, on the little table near his friend's bed, Salvette has -placed a bottle of Lunel wine and a round loaf--a comely Christmas -loaf, in which the sprig of holly is planted upright. The sick man -opens eyes darkly rimmed with fever. In the uncertain light of the -night lamps and under the white reflection of the great roofs where the -moon shines dazzling upon the snow, this improvised Christmas seems to -him a phantasy. - -"Come, comrade, wake up!... It shall not be said that two Provençals -let Christmas Eve pass without toasting it in a cup of claret."... And -Salvette raises him with a mother's tenderness. He fills the glasses, -cuts the bread; and they drink, and talk of Provence. Little by little -Bernadou rouses, becomes tender.... The wine, the recalling of old -days.... With the childish spirit which comes again to the sick in -their weakness, he asks Salvette to sing a Christmas carol of Provence. -His comrade asks nothing better. - -"Come! Which one do you want? 'The Host'? 'The Three Kings'? or 'Saint -Joseph Said to Me'?" - -"No. I love better 'The Shepherds.' The one we always sang at home." - -"'The Shepherds' let it be." In a low voice, his head between the -curtains, Salvette begins to hum. But suddenly, as he sings the last -couplet, where the shepherds, coming to see Jesus in his stable, have -laid their offerings of fresh eggs and cheese in the manger, and are -dismissed in kindly fashion:-- - - "Joseph leur dit: Allons I soyez bien sages, - Tournez-vous-en et faites bon voyage. - Bergers, - Prenez votre congé, ..." - -poor Bernadou slips and falls heavily upon his pillow. His comrade, -thinking he sleeps, calls him, shakes him. But the sick man remains -motionless; and the little sprig of holly across the stiff coverlet -seems already the green palm that is laid on the pillow of the dead. - -Salvette understands. Then, all in tears, and a little intoxicated with -the feast and with so great a sorrow, he takes up again in full voice, -in the silence of the ward, the joyous refrain of Provence:-- - - "Shepherds, - Take your leave!" - - ALPHONSE DAUDET - - -The Rehearsal of the Mummers' Play - -Then fell the great first rehearsal of the Christmas play, and Dennis -Masterman found that he had been wise to take time by the forelock in -this matter. The mummers assembled in the parish room, and the vicar -and his sister, with Nathan Baskerville's assistance, strove to lead -them through the drama. - -"It's not going to be quite like the version that a kind friend has -sent me, and from which your parts are written," explained Dennis. -"I've arranged for an introduction in the shape of a prologue. I shall -do this myself, and appear before the curtain and speak a speech to -explain what it is all about. This answers Mr. Waite here, who is -going to be the Turkish Knight. He didn't want to begin the piece. Now -I shall have broken the ice, and then he will be discovered as the -curtain rises." - -Mr. Timothy Waite on this occasion, however, began proceedings, as the -vicar's prologue was not yet written. He proved letter-perfect, but -exceedingly nervous. - - "Open your doors and let me in, - I hope your favours I shall win. - Whether I rise or whether I fall, - I'll do my best to please you all!" - -Mr. Waite spoke jerkily, and his voice proved a little out of control, -but everybody congratulated him. - -"How he rolls his eyes to be sure," said Vivian Baskerville. "A very -daps of a Turk, for sartain." - -"You ought to stride about more, Waite," suggested Ned Baskerville, who -had cheered up of recent days, and was now standing beside Cora and -other girls destined to assist the play. "The great thing is to stride -about and look alive--isn't it, Mr. Masterman?" - -"We'll talk afterwards," answered Dennis. "We mustn't interfere with -the action. You have got your speech off very well, Waite, but you said -it much too fast. We must be slow and distinct so that not a word is -missed." - -Timothy, who enjoyed the praise of his friends, liked this censure less. - -"As for speaking fast," he said, "the man would speak fast. Because he -expects St. George will be on his tail in a minute. He says, 'I know -he'll pierce my skin.' In fact, he's pretty well sweating with terror -from the first moment he comes on the stage, I should reckon." - -But Mr. Masterman was unprepared for any such subtle rendering of the -Turkish Knight, and he only hoped that the more ancient play-actors -would not come armed with equally obstinate opinions. - -"We'll talk about it afterwards," he said. "Now you go off to -the right, Waite, and Father Christmas comes on at the left. Mr. -Baskerville--Father Christmas, please." - -Nathan put his part into his pocket, marched on to the imaginary stage -and bowed. Everybody cheered. - -"You needn't bow," explained Dennis; but the innkeeper differed from -him. - -"I'm afraid I must, your reverence. When I appear before them, the -people will give me a lot of applause in their usual kindly fashion. -Why, even these here--just t'other actors do, you see--so you may be -sure that the countryside will. Therefore I had better practise the bow -at rehearsal, if you've no great argument against it." - -"All right, push on," said Dennis. - -"We must really be quicker," declared Miss Masterman. "Half an hour has -gone, and we've hardly started." - -"Off I go, then; and I want you chaps--especially you, Vivian, and -you, Jack Head, and you, Tom Gollop--to watch me acting. Acting ban't -the same as ordinary talking. If I was just talking, I should say all -quiet, without flinging my arms about, and walking round, and stopping, -and then away again. But in acting you do all these things, and instead -of merely saying your speeches, as we would just man to man, over my -bar or in the street, you have to bawl 'em out so that every soul in -the audience catches 'em." - -Having thus explained his theory of histrionics, Mr. Baskerville -started, and with immense and original emphasis, and sudden actions and -gestures, introduced himself. - - "Here come I, the dear old Father Christmas. - Welcome or welcome not, - I hope old Father Christmas - Will never be forgot. - A room--make room here, gallant boys. - And give us room to rhyme...." - -Nathan broke off to explain his reading of the part. - -"When I say 'make room' I fly all round the stage, as if I was pushing -the people back to give me room." - -He finished his speech, and panted and mopped his head. - -"That's acting, and what d'you think of it?" he asked. - -They all applauded vigorously excepting Mr. Gollop, who now prepared to -take his part. - -Nathan then left the stage and the vicar called him back. - -"You don't go off," he explained. "You stop to welcome the King of -Egypt." - -"Beg pardon," answered the innkeeper. "But of course, so it is. I'll -take my stand here." - -"You bow to the King of Egypt when he comes on," declared Gollop. "He -humbly bows to me, don't he, reverend Masterman?" - -"Yes," said Dennis, "he bows, of course. You'll have a train carried by -two boys, Gollop; but the boys aren't here to-night, as they're both -down with measles--Mrs. Bassett's youngsters." - -"I'll bow to you if you bow to me, Tom," said Mr. Baskerville. "That's -only right." - -"Kings don't bow to common people," declared the parish clerk. -"Me and my pretended darter--that's Miss Cora Lintern, who's the -Princess--ban't going to bow, I should hope." - -"You ought to, then," declared Jack Head. "No reason because you'm King -of Egypt why you should think yourself better than other folk. Make him -bow, Nathan. Don't you bow to him if he don't bow to you." - -"Kings do bow," declared Dennis. "You must bow to Father Christmas, -Gollop." - -"He must bow first, then," argued the parish clerk. - -"Damn the man! turn him out and let somebody else do it!" cried Head. - -"Let neither of 'em bow," suggested Mrs. Hacker suddenly. "With all -this here bowing and scraping, us shan't be done afore midnight; and I -don't come in the play till the end of all things as 'tis." - -"You'd better decide, your reverence," suggested Vivian. "Your word's -law. I say let 'em bow simultaneous--how would that serve?" - -"Excellent!" declared Dennis. "You'll bow together, please. Now, Mr. -Gollop." - -Thomas marched on with amazing gait, designed to be regal. - -"They'll all laugh if you do it like that, Tom," complained Mr. Voysey. - -"Beggar the man! And why for shouldn't they laugh?" asked Jack Head. -"Thomas don't want to make 'em cry, do he? Ban't we all to be as funny -as ever we can, reverend Masterman?" - -"Yes," said Dennis. "In reason--in reason, Jack. But acting is one -thing, and playing the fool is another." - -"Oh, Lord! I thought they was the same," declared Vivian Baskerville. -"Because if I've got to act the giant----" - -"Order! order!" cried the clergyman. "We _must_ get on. Don't be -annoyed, Mr. Baskerville, I quite see your point; but it will all come -right at rehearsal." - -"You'll have to tell me how to act then," said Vivian. "How the -mischief can a man pretend to be what he isn't? A giant----" - -"You're as near being a live giant as you can be," declared Nathan. -"You've only got to be yourself and you'll be all right." - -"No," argued Jack Head. "If the man's himself, he's not funny, and -nobody will laugh. I say----" - -"You can show us what you mean when you come to your own part, Jack," -said Dennis desperately. "Do get on, Gollop." - -"Bow then," said Mr. Gollop to Nathan. - -"I'll bow when you do, and not a minute sooner," answered the innkeeper -firmly. - -The matter of the bow was arranged, and Mr. Gollop, in the familiar -voice with which he had led the psalms for a quarter of a century, -began his part. - - "Here I, the King of Egypt, boldly do appear, - St. Garge! St. Garge! walk in, my only son and heir; - Walk in, St. Garge, my son, and boldly act thy part, - That all the people here may see thy wondrous art!" - -"Well done, Tom!" said Mr. Masterman, "that's splendid; but you mustn't -sing it." - -"I ban't singing it," answered the clerk. "I know what to do." - -"All right. Now, St. George, St. George, where are you?" - -"Along with the girls, as usual," snapped Mr. Gollop. - -As a matter of fact Ned Baskerville was engaged in deep conversation -with Princess Sabra and the Turkish Knight. He left them and hurried -forward. - -"Give tongue, Ned!" cried his father. - -"You walk down to the footlights, and the King of Egypt will be on one -side of you and Father Christmas on the other," explained the vicar. - -"And you needn't look round for the females, 'cause they don't appear -till later on," added Jack Head. - -A great laugh followed this jest, whereon Miss Masterman begged her -brother to try and keep order. - -"If they are not going to be serious, we had better give it up, and -waste no more time," she said. - -"Don't take it like that, miss, I beg of you," urged Nathan. "All's -prospering very well. We shall shape down. Go on, Ned." - -Ned looked at his part, then put it behind his back, and then brought -it out again. - -"This is too bad, Baskerville," complained Dennis. "You told me -yesterday that you knew every word." - -"So I did yesterday, I'll swear to it. I said it out in the kitchen -after supper to mother--didn't I, father?" - -"You did," assented Vivian; "but that's no use if you've forgot it now." - -"'Tis stage fright," explained Nathan. "You'll get over it." - -"Think you'm talking to a maiden," advised Jack Head. - -"Do get on!" cried Dennis. Then he prompted the faulty mummer. - - "Here come I, St. George----" - -Ned struck an attitude and started. - - "Here come I, St. George; from Britain did I spring; - I'll fight the Russian Bear, my wonders to begin. - I'll pierce him through, he shall not fly; - I'll cut him--cut him--cut him----" - -"How does it go?" - -"'I'll cut him down,'" prompted Dennis. - -"Right!" - - "I'll cut him down, or else I'll die." - -"Good! Now, come on, Bear!" said Nathan. - -"You and Jack Head will have to practise the fight," explained the -vicar; "and at this point, or earlier, the ladies will march in to -music and take their places, because, of course, 'fair Sabra' has to -see St. George conquer his foes." - -"That'll suit Ned exactly!" laughed Nathan. - -Then he marshalled Cora and several other young women, including May -and Polly Baskerville from Cadworthy, and Cora's sister Phyllis. - -"There will be a daïs lifted up at the back, you know--that's a raised -platform. But for the present you must pretend these chairs are the -throne. You sit by 'fair Sabra,' Thomas, and then the trumpets sound -and the Bear comes on." - -"Who'll play the brass music?" asked Head, "because I've got a very -clever friend at Sheepstor----" - -"Leave all that to me. The music is arranged. Now, come on!" - -"Shall you come on and play it like a four-footed thing, or get up on -your hind-legs, Jack?" asked St. George. - -"I be going to come in growling and yowling on all fours," declared Mr. -Head grimly. "Then I be going to do a sort of a comic bear dance; then -I be going to have a bit of fun eating a plum pudding; then I thought -that me and Mr. Nathan might have a bit of comic work; and then I -should get up on my hind-legs and go for St. George." - -"You can't do all that," declared Dennis. "Not that I want to interfere -with you, or anybody, Head; but if each one is going to work out his -part and put such a lot into it, we shall never get done." - -"The thing is to make 'em laugh, reverend Masterman," answered Jack -with firmness. "If I just come on and just say my speech, and fight and -die, there's nought in it; but if----" - -"Go on, then--go on. We'll talk afterwards." - -"Right. Now you try not to laugh, souls, and I wager I'll make you -giggle like a lot of zanies," promised Jack. - -Then he licked his hands, went down upon them, and scrambled along upon -all fours. - -"Good for you, Jack! Well done! You'm funnier than anything that's gone -afore!" cried Joe Voysey. - -"So you be, for certain," added Mrs. Hacker. - -"For all the world like my bob-tailed sheep-dog," declared Mr. Waite. - -"Now I be going to sit up on my hams and scratch myself," explained Mr. -Head; "then off I go again and have a sniff at Father Christmas. Then -you ought to give me a plum pudding, Mr. Baskerville, and I balance it -'pon my nose." - -"Well thought on!" declared Nathan. "So I will. 'Twill make the folk -die of laughing to see you." - -"Come on to the battle," said Dennis. - -"Must be a sort of wraslin' fight," continued Head, "because the Bear's -got nought but his paws. Then, I thought when I'd throwed St. George a -fair back heel, he'd get up and draw his shining sword and stab me in -the guts. Then I'd roar and roar, till the place fairly echoed round, -and then I'd die in frightful agony." - -"You ban't the whole play, Jack," said Mr. Gollop with much discontent. -"You forget yourself, surely. You can't have the King of Egypt and -these here other high characters all standing on the stage doing nought -while you'm going through these here vagaries." - -But Mr. Head stuck to his text. - -"We'm here to make 'em laugh," he repeated with bulldog determination. -"And I'll do it if mortal man can do it. Then, when I've took the -doctor's stuff, up I gets again and goes on funnier than ever." - -"I wouldn't miss it for money, Jack," declared Vivian Baskerville. -"Such a clever chap as you be, and none of us ever knowed it. You ought -to go for Tom Fool to the riders. I lay you'd make tons more money than -ever you will to Trowlesworthy Warren." - -"By the way, who is to be the Doctor?" asked Ned Baskerville. "'Twasn't -settled, Mr. Masterman." - -Dennis collapsed blankly. - -"By Jove! No more it was," he admitted, "and I've forgotten all about -it. The Doctor's very important, too. We must have him before the next -rehearsal. For the present you can read it out of the book, Mark." - -Mark Baskerville was prompting, and now, after St. George and the Bear -had made a pretence of wrestling, and the Bear had perished with much -noise and to the accompaniment of loud laughter, Mark read the Doctor's -somewhat arrogant pretensions. - - "All sorts of diseases-- - Whatever you pleases: - The phthisic, the palsy, the gout, - If the Devil's in, I blow him out. - - * * * * * - - "I carry a bottle of alicampane, - Here, Russian Bear, take a little of my flip-flap, - Pour it down thy tip-tap; - Rise up and fight again!" - -"Well said, Mark! 'Twas splendidly given. Why for shouldn't Mark be -Doctor?" asked Nathan. - -"An excellent idea," declared Dennis. "I'm sure now, if the fair Queen -Sabra will only put in a word----" - -Mark's engagement was known. The people clapped their hands heartily -and Cora blushed. - -"I wish he would," said Cora. - -"Your wish ought to be his law," declared Ned. "I'm sure if 'twas -me----" - -But Mark shook his head. - -"I couldn't do it," he answered. "I would if I could; but when the time -came, and the people, and the excitement of it all, I should break -down, I'm sure I should." - -"It's past ten o'clock," murmured Miss Masterman to her brother. - -The rehearsal proceeded: Jack Head, as the Bear, was restored to life -and slain again with much detail. Then Ned proceeded-- - - "I fought the Russian Bear - And brought him to the slaughter; - By that I won fair Sabra, - The King of Egypt's daughter. - Where is the man that now will me defy? - I'll cut his giblets full of holes and make his buttons fly." - -"And when I've got my sword, of course 'twill be much finer," concluded -Ned. - -Mr. Gollop here raised an objection. - -"I don't think the man ought to tell about cutting anybody's giblets -full of holes," he said; "no, nor yet making their buttons fly. 'Tis -very coarse, and the gentlefolks wouldn't like it." - -"Nonsense, Tom," answered the vicar, "it's all in keeping with the -play. There's no harm in it at all." - -"Evil be to them as evil think," said Jack Head. "Now comes the song, -reverend Masterman, and I was going to propose that the Bear, though -he's dead as a nit, rises up on his front paws and sings with the rest, -then drops down again--eh, souls?" - -"They'll die of laughing if you do that, Jack," declared Vivian. "I -vote for it." - -But Dennis firmly refused permission and addressed his chorus. - -"Now, girls, the song--everybody joins. The other songs are not written -yet, so we need not bother about them till next time." - -The girls, glad of something to do, sang vigorously, and the song went -well. Then the Turkish Knight was duly slain, restored and slain again. - -"We can't finish to-night," declared Dennis, looking at his watch, "so -I'm sorry to have troubled you to come, Mrs. Hacker, and you, Voysey." - -"They haven't wasted their time, however, because Head and I have -showed them what acting means," said Nathan. "And when you do come on, -Susan Hacker, you've got to quarrel and pull my beard, remember; then -we make it up afterwards." - -"We'll finish for to-night with the Giant," decreed Dennis. "Now speak -your long speech, St. George, and then Mr. Baskerville can do the -Giant." - -Ned, who declared that he had as yet learned no more, read his next -speech, and Vivian began behind the scenes-- - - "Fee--fi--fo--fum! - I smell the blood of an Englishman. - Let him be living, or let him be dead, - I'll grind his bones to make my bread." - -"You ought to throw a bit more roughness in your voice, farmer," -suggested Mr. Gollop. "If you could bring it up from the innards, -'twould sound more awful, wouldn't it, reverend Masterman?" - -"And when you come on, farmer, you might pass me by where I lie dead," -said Jack, "and I'll up and give you a nip in the calf of the leg, and -you'll jump round, and the people will roar again." - -"No," declared the vicar. "No more of you, Head, till the end. Then you -come to life and dance with the French Eagle--that's Voysey. But you -mustn't act any more till then." - -"A pity," answered Jack. "I was full of contrivances; however, if you -say so----" - -"Be I to dance?" asked Mr. Voysey. "This is the first I've heard tell -o' that. How can I dance, and the rheumatism eating into my knees for -the last twenty year?" - -"I'll dance," said Head. "You can just turn round and round slowly." - -"Now, Mr. Baskerville!" - -Vivian strode on to the stage. - -"Make your voice big, my dear," pleaded Gollop. - - "Here come I, the Giant; bold Turpin is my name, - And all the nations round do tremble at my fame, - Where'er I go, they tremble at my sight: - No lord or champion long with me will dare to fight." - -"People will cheer you like thunder, Vivian," said his brother, -"because they know that the nations really did tremble at your fame -when you was champion wrestler of the west." - -"But you mustn't stand like that, farmer," said Jack Head. "You'm too -spraddlesome. For the Lord's sake, man, try and keep your feet in the -same parish!" - -Mr. Baskerville bellowed with laughter and slapped his immense thigh. - -"Dammy! that's funnier than anything in the play," he said. "'Keep my -feet in the same parish!' Was ever a better joke heard?" - -"Now, St. George, kill the Giant," commanded Dennis. "The Giant will -have a club, and he'll try to smash you; then run him through the body." - -"Take care you don't hit Ned in real earnest, however, else you'd -settle him and spoil the play," said Mr. Voysey. "'Twould be a terrible -tantarra for certain if the Giant went and whipped St. George." - -"'Twouldn't be the first time, however," said Mr. Baskerville. "Would -it, Ned?" - -Nathan and Ned's sisters appreciated this family joke. Then Mr. Gollop -advanced a sentimental objection. - -"I may be wrong," he admitted, "but I can't help thinking it might be a -bit ondecent for Ned Baskerville here to kill his father, even in play. -You see, though everybody will know 'tis Ned and his parent, and that -they'm only pretending, yet it might shock a serious-minded person here -and there to see the son kill the father. I don't say I mind, as 'tis -all make-believe and the frolic of a night; but--well, there 'tis." - -"You'm a silly old grandmother, and never no King of Egypt was such a -fool afore," said Jack. "Pay no heed to him, reverend Masterman." - -Gollop snarled at Head, and they began to wrangle fiercely. - -Then Dennis closed the rehearsal. - -"That'll do for the present," he announced. "We've made a splendid -start, and the thing to remember is that we meet here again this day -week, at seven o'clock. And mind you know your part, Ned. Another of -the songs will be ready by then; and the new harmonium will have come -that my sister is going to play. And do look about, all of you, to find -somebody who will take the Doctor." - -"We shall have the nation's eyes on us--not for the first time," -declared Mr. Gollop as he tied a white wool muffler round his throat; -"and I'm sure I hope one and all will do the best that's in 'em." - -The actors departed; the oil lamps were extinguished, and the vicar and -his sister returned home. She said little by the way, and her severe -silence made him rather nervous. - -"Well," he broke out at length, "jolly good, I think, for a first -attempt--eh, Alice?" - -"I'm glad you were satisfied, dear. Everything depends upon us--that -seems quite clear, at any rate. They'll all get terribly self-conscious -and silly, I'm afraid, long before the time comes. However, we must -hope for the best. But I shouldn't be in a hurry to ask anybody who -really matters." - - EDEN PHILLPOTTS in _The Three Brothers_ - - - - -X - -NEW YEAR - -[Illustration: NEW YEAR] - - New Year - Midnight Mass for the Dying Year - The Death of the Old Year - A New Year's Carol - New Year's Resolutions - Love and Joy come to You - Ring Out, Wild Bells - New Year's Eve, 1850 - Rejoicings upon the New Year's Coming of Age - New Year's Rites in the Highlands - The Chinese New Year - New Year's Gifts in Thessaly - "Smashing" in the New Year - New Year Calls in Old New York - Sylvester Abend in Davos - -[Illustration: -_New Year_-] - - -New Year - - Each New Year is a leaf of our love's rose; - It falls, but quick another rose-leaf grows. - So is the flower from year to year the same, - But richer, for the dead leaves feed its flame. - - RICHARD WATSON GILDER - - _By permission of Houghton Mifflin Company_ - - -Midnight Mass for the Dying Year - - Yes, the Year is growing old, - And his eye is pale and bleared! - Death, with frosty hand and cold, - Plucks the old man by the beard, - Sorely, sorely! - - The leaves are falling, falling, - Solemnly and slow; - Caw! caw! the rooks are calling, - It is a sound of woe, - A sound of woe! - - Through woods and mountain passes - The winds, like anthems, roll; - They are chanting solemn masses, - Singing, "Pray for this poor soul, - Pray, pray!" - - And the hooded clouds, like friars, - Tell their beads in drops of rain, - And patter their doleful prayers; - But their prayers are all in vain, - All in vain! - - There he stands in the foul weather, - The foolish, fond Old Year, - Crowned with wild-flowers and with heather, - Like weak, despised Lear, - A king, a king! - - Then comes the summer-like day, - Bids the old man rejoice! - His joy, his last! O, the old man gray - Loveth that ever-soft voice, - Gentle and low. - - To the crimson woods he saith, - To the voice gentle and low - Of the soft air, like a daughter's breath, - "Pray do not mock me so! - Do not laugh at me!" - - And now the sweet day is dead; - Cold in his arms it lies; - No stain from its breath is spread - Over the glassy skies, - No mist or stain! - - Then, too, the Old Year dieth, - And the forests utter a moan, - Like the voice of one who crieth - In the wilderness alone, - "Vex not his ghost!" - - Then comes, with an awful roar, - Gathering and sounding on, - The storm-wind from Labrador, - The wind Euroclydon, - The storm-wind! - - Howl! howl! and from the forest - Sweep the red leaves away! - Would, the sins that thou abhorrest, - O Soul! could thus decay, - And be swept away! - - For there shall come a mightier blast, - There shall be a darker day; - And the stars, from heaven down-cast, - Like red leaves be swept away! - Kyrie, eleyson! - Christe, eleyson! - - HENRY W. LONGFELLOW - - -The Death of the Old Year - - Full knee-deep lies the winter snow, - And the winter winds are wearily sighing: - Toll ye the church-bell sad and slow, - And tread softly and speak low, - For the old year lies a-dying. - Old year, you must not die; - You came to us so readily, - You lived with us so steadily, - Old year, you shall not die. - - He lieth still: he doth not move: - He will not see the dawn of day. - He hath no other life above. - He gave me a friend, and a true true-love, - And the New Year will take 'em away. - Old year, you must not go; - So long as you have been with us, - Such joy as you have seen with us, - Old year, you shall not go. - - He froth'd his bumpers to the brim; - A jollier year we shall not see. - But tho' his eyes are waxing dim, - And tho' his foes speak ill of him, - He was a friend to me. - Old year, you shall not die; - We did so laugh and cry with you, - I've half a mind to die with you, - Old year, if you must die. - - He was full of joke and jest, - But all his merry quips are o'er. - To see him die, across the waste - His son and heir doth ride post-haste, - But he'll be dead before. - Every one for his own. - The night is starry and cold, my friend, - And the New-year blithe and bold, my friend, - Comes up to take his own. - - How hard he breathes! over the snow - I heard just now the crowing cock. - The shadows flicker to and fro: - The cricket chirps: the light burns low: - 'Tis nearly twelve o'clock. - Shake hands, before you die. - Old year, we'll dearly rue for you: - What is it we can do for you? - Speak out before you die. - - His face is growing sharp and thin. - Alack! our friend is gone. - Close up his eyes: tie up his chin: - Step from the corpse, and let him in - That standeth there alone, - And awaiteth at the door. - There's a new foot on the floor, my friend, - And a new face at the door, my friend, - A new face at the door. - - ALFRED TENNYSON - - -A New Year's Carol - - Ah! dearest Jesus, Holy Child, - Make Thee a bed, soft, undefil'd, - Within my heart, that it may be - A quiet chamber kept for Thee. - My heart for very joy doth leap, - My lips no more can silence keep, - I too must sing, with joyful tongue, - That sweetest ancient cradle song, - "Glory to God in highest Heaven, - Who unto man His Son hath given." - While angels sing, with pious mirth, - A glad New Year to all the earth. - - MARTIN LUTHER - - -New Year's Resolutions - -January 1st.--The service on New Year's Eve is the only one in the -whole year that in the least impresses me in our little church, and -then the very bareness and ugliness of the place and the ceremonial -produce an effect that a snug service in a well-lit church never would. -Last night we took Irais and Minora, and drove the three lonely miles -in a sleigh. It was pitch-dark, and blowing great guns. We sat wrapped -up to our eyes in furs, and as mute as a funeral procession. - -"We are going to the burial of our last year's sins," said Irais, as -we started; and there certainly was a funereal sort of feeling in the -air. Up in our gallery pew we tried to decipher our chorales by the -light of the spluttering tallow candles stuck in holes in the woodwork, -the flames wildly blown about by the draughts. The wind banged against -the windows in great gusts, screaming louder than the organ, and -threatening to blow out the agitated lights together. The parson in -his gloomy pulpit, surrounded by a framework of dusty carved angels, -took on an awful appearance of menacing Authority as he raised his -voice to make himself heard above the clatter. Sitting there in the -dark, I felt very small, and solitary, and defenceless, alone in a -great, big, black world. The church was as cold as a tomb; some of the -candles guttered and went out; the parson in his black robe spoke of -death and judgment; I thought I heard a child's voice screaming, and -could hardly believe it was only the wind, and felt uneasy and full -of forebodings; all my faith and philosophy deserted me, and I had a -horrid feeling that I should probably be well punished, though for what -I had no precise idea. If it had not been so dark, and if the wind had -not howled so despairingly, I should have paid little attention to the -threats issuing from the pulpit; but, as it was, I fell to making good -resolutions. This is always a bad sign,--only those who break them make -them; and if you simply do as a matter of course that which is right -as it comes, any preparatory resolving to do so becomes completely -superfluous. I have for some years past left off making them on New -Year's Eve, and only the gale happening as it did reduced me to -doing so last night; for I have long since discovered that, though the -year and the resolutions may be new, I myself am not, and it is worse -than useless putting new wine into old bottles. - -[Illustration: THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. _Paolo Veronese._] - -"But I am not an old bottle," said Irais indignantly, when I held -forth to her to the above effect a few hours later in the library, -restored to all my philosophy by the warmth and light, "and I find my -resolutions carry me very nicely into the spring. I revise them at the -end of each month, and strike out the unnecessary ones. By the end of -April they have been so severely revised that there are none left." - -"There, you see I am right; if you were not an old bottle your new -contents would gradually arrange themselves amiably as a part of you, -and the practice of your resolutions would lose its bitterness by -becoming a habit." - -She shook her head. "Such things never lose their bitterness," she -said, "and that is why I don't let them cling to me right into the -summer. When May comes, I give myself up to jollity with all the rest -of the world, and am too busy being happy to bother about anything I -may have resolved when the days were cold and dark." - -"And that is just why I love you," I thought. She often says what I -feel. - - From _Elizabeth and her German Garden_ - - -Love and Joy come to You - - Here we come a-wassailing - Among the leaves so green, - Here we come a-wandering, - So fair to be seen. - _Love and joy come to you, - And to you your wassail too, - And God bless you, and send you - A happy New Year._ - - We are not daily beggars - That beg from door to door, - But we are neighbours' children - Whom you have seen before. - _Love and joy, &c._ - - Good Master and good Mistress, - As you sit by the fire, - Pray think of us poor children - Who are wandering in the mire. - _Love and joy, &c._ - - We have a little purse - Made of ratching leather skin; - We want some of your small change - To line it well within. - _Love and joy, &c._ - - Call up the butler of this house, - Put on his golden ring; - Let him bring us a glass of beer, - And the better we shall sing. - _Love and joy, &c._ - - Bring us out a table, - And spread it with a cloth; - Bring us out a mouldy cheese - And some of your Christmas loaf. - _Love and joy, &c._ - - God bless the Master of this house, - Likewise the Mistress too, - And all the little children - That round the table go. - _Love and joy come to you, - And to you your wassail too, - And God bless you, and send you - A happy New Year._ - - _Old English_ - - -Ring Out, Wild Bells - - Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, - The flying cloud, the frosty light: - The year is dying in the night; - Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. - - Ring out the old, ring in the new, - Ring, happy bells, across the snow; - The year is going, let him go; - Ring out the false, ring in the true. - - Ring out the grief that saps the mind, - For those that here we see no more; - Ring out the feud of rich and poor, - Ring in redress to all mankind. - - * * * * * - - Ring out old shapes of foul disease, - Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; - Ring out the thousand wars of old, - Ring in the thousand years of peace. - - Ring in the valiant man and free, - The larger heart, the kindlier hand; - Ring out the darkness of the land, - Ring in the Christ that is to be. - - ALFRED TENNYSON - - -New Year's Eve, 1850 - - This is the midnight of the century,--hark! - Through aisle and arch of Godminster have gone - Twelve throbs that tolled the zenith of the dark, - And mornward now the starry hands move on; - "Mornward!" the angelic watchers say, - "Passed is the sorest trial; - No plot of man can stay - The hand upon the dial; - Night is the dark stem of the lily Day." - - If we, who watched in valleys here below, - Toward streaks, misdeemed of morn, our faces turned - When Vulcan glares set all the east aglow,-- - We are not poorer that we wept and yearned; - Though earth swing wide from God's intent, - And though no man nor nation - Will move with full consent - In heavenly gravitation, - Yet by one Sun is every orbit bent. - - JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL - - -Rejoicings upon the New Year's Coming of Age - -The Old Year being dead, and the New Year coming of age, which he does, -by Calendar Law, as soon as the breath is out of the old gentleman's -body, nothing would serve the young spark but he must give a dinner -upon the occasion, to which all the Days in the year were invited. -The Festivals, whom he deputed as his stewards, were mightily taken -with the notion. They had been engaged time out of mind, they said, in -providing mirth and good cheer for mortals below; and it was time they -should have a taste of their own bounty. It was stiffly debated among -them whether the Fasts should be admitted. Some said the appearance of -such lean, starved guests, with their mortified faces, would pervert -the ends of the meeting. But the objection was overruled by Christmas -Day, who had a design upon Ash Wednesday (as you shall hear), and a -mighty desire to see how the old Domine would behave himself in his -cups. Only the Vigils were requested to come with their lanterns, to -light the gentlefolks home at night. - -All the Days came to their day. Covers were provided for three hundred -and sixty-five guests at the principal table; with an occasional knife -and fork at the side-board for the Twenty-Ninth of February. - -I should have told you, that cards of invitation had been issued. The -carriers were the Hours; twelve little, merry, whirligig foot-pages, -as you should desire to see, that went all round, and found out the -persons invited well enough, with the exception of Easter Day, Shrove -Tuesday, and a few such Moveables, who had lately shifted their -quarters. - -Well, they all met at last--foul Days, fine Days, all sorts of Days, -and a rare din they made of it. There was nothing but, Hail! fellow -Day, well met--brother Day--sister Day,--only Lady Day kept a little on -the aloof, and seemed somewhat scornful. Yet some said Twelfth Day cut -her out and out, for she came in a tiffany suit, white and gold, like -a queen on a frost-cake, all royal, glittering, and Epiphanous. The -rest came, some in green, some in white--but old Lent and his family -were not yet out of mourning. Rainy Days came in dripping; and sunshiny -Days helped them to change their stockings. Wedding Day was there in -his marriage finery, a little worse for wear. Pay Day came late, as he -always does; and Doomsday sent word--he might be expected. - -April Fool (as my young lord's jester) took upon himself to marshal -the guests, and wild work he made with it. It would have posed old -Erra Pater to have found out any given Day in the year to erect a -scheme upon--good Days, bad Days, were so shuffled together, to the -confounding of all sober horoscopy. - -He had stuck the Twenty-First of June next to the Twenty-Second of -December, and the former looked like a Maypole siding a marrow-bone. -Ash Wednesday got wedged in (as was concerted) betwixt Christmas and -Lord Mayor's Days. Lord! how he laid about him! Nothing but barons of -beef and turkeys would go down with him--to the great greasing and -detriment of his new sackcloth bib and tucker. And still Christmas Day -was at his elbow, plying him with the wassail-bowl, till he roared, -and hiccupp'd, and protested there was no faith in dried ling, but -commended it to the devil for a sour, windy, acrimonious, censorious, -hy-po-crit-crit-critical mess, and no dish for a gentleman. Then he -dipt his fist into the middle of the great custard that stood before -his left-hand neighbour, and daubed his hungry beard all over with it, -till you would have taken him for the Last Day in December, it so hung -in icicles. - -At another part of the table, Shrove Tuesday was helping the Second -of September to some cock broth,--which courtesy the latter returned -with the delicate thigh of a hen pheasant--so that there was no love -lost for that matter. The Last of Lent was spunging upon Shrove-tide's -pancakes; which April Fool perceiving, told him that he did well, for -pancakes were proper to a good fry-day. - -In another part, a hubbub arose about the Thirtieth of January, who, -it seems, being a sour, puritanic character, that thought nobody's -meat good or sanctified enough for him, had smuggled into the room a -calf's head, which he had had cooked at home for that purpose, thinking -to feast thereon incontinently; but as it lay in the dish, March -Manyweathers, who is a very fine lady, and subject to the meagrims, -screamed out there was a "human head in the platter," and raved about -Herodias' daughter to that degree, that the obnoxious viand was obliged -to be removed; nor did she recover her stomach till she had gulped down -a Restorative, confected of Oak Apple, which the merry Twenty-Ninth of -May always carries about with him for that purpose. - -The King's health being called for after this, a notable dispute arose -between the Twelfth of August (a zealous old Whig gentlewoman) and the -Twenty-Third of April (a new-fangled lady of the Tory stamp) as to -which of them should have the honour to propose it. August grew hot -upon the matter, affirming time out of mind the prescriptive right to -have lain with her, till her rival had basely supplanted her; whom she -represented as little better than a kept mistress, who went about in -fine clothes, while she (the legitimate Birthday) had scarcely a rag, -etc. - -April Fool, being made mediator, confirmed the right, in the strongest -form of words, to the appellant, but decided for peace' sake, that the -exercise of it should remain with the present possessor. At the time, -he slily rounded the first lady in the ear, that an action might lie -against the Crown for bi-geny. - -It beginning to grow a little duskish, Candlemas lustily bawled out -for lights, which was opposed by all the Days, who protested against -burning daylight. Then fair water was handed round in silver ewers, and -the same lady was observed to take an unusual time in Washing herself. - -May Day, with that sweetness which is peculiar to her, in a neat speech -proposing the health of the founder, crowned her goblet (and by her -example the rest of the company) with garlands. This being done, the -lordly New Year, from the upper end of the table, in a cordial but -somewhat lofty tone, returned thanks. He felt proud on an occasion -of meeting so many of his worthy father's late tenants, promised to -improve their farms, and at the same time to abate (if anything was -found unreasonable) in their rents. - -At the mention of this, the four Quarter Days involuntarily looked at -each other, and smiled; April Fool whistled to an old tune of "New -Brooms"; and a surly old rebel at the farther end of the table (who -was discovered to be no other than the Fifth of November) muttered -out, distinctly enough to be heard by the whole company, words to this -effect--that "when the old one is gone, he is a fool that looks for -a better." Which rudeness of his, the guests resenting, unanimously -voted his expulsion; and the malcontent was thrust out neck and heels -into the cellar, as the properest place for such a _boutefeu_ and -firebrand as he had shown himself to be. - -Order being restored--the young lord (who, to say truth, had been a -little ruffled, and put beside his oratory) in as few, and yet as -obliging words as possible, assured them of entire welcome; and, with -a graceful turn, singling out poor Twenty-Ninth of February, that had -sate all this while mumchance at the side-board, begged to couple -his health with that of the good company before him--which he drank -accordingly; observing, that he had not seen his honest face any time -these four years, with a number of endearing expressions besides. At -the same time removing the solitary Day from the forlorn seat which had -been assigned him, he stationed him at his own board, somewhere between -the Greek Calends and Latter Lammas. - -Ash Wednesday, being now called upon for a song, with his eyes fast -stuck in his head, and as well as the Canary he had swallowed would -give him leave, struck up a Carol, which Christmas Day had taught him -for the nounce; and was followed by the latter, who gave "Miserere" in -fine style, hitting off the mumping notes and lengthened drawl of Old -Mortification with infinite humour. April Fool swore they had exchanged -conditions; but Good Friday was observed to look extremely grave; and -Sunday held her fan before her face that she might not be seen to smile. - -Shrove-tide, Lord Mayor's Day, and April Fool next joined in a glee-- - - Which is the properest day to drink? - -in which all the Days chiming in, made a merry burden. - -They next fell to quibbles and conundrums. The question being proposed, -who had the greatest number of followers--the Quarter Days said, there -could be no question as to that; for they had all the creditors in the -world dogging their heels. But April Fool gave it in favour of the -Forty Days before Easter; because the debtors in all cases outnumbered -the creditors, and they kept Lent all the year. - -All this while Valentine's Day kept courting pretty May, who sate next -him, slipping amorous billets-doux under the table, till the Dog Days -(who are naturally of a warm constitution) began to be jealous, and -to bark and rage exceedingly. April Fool, who likes a bit of sport -above measure, and had some pretensions to the lady besides, as being -but a cousin once removed,--clapped and halloo'd them on; and as fast -as their indignation cooled, those mad wags, the Ember Days, were -at it with their bellows, to blow it into a flame; and all was in a -ferment, till old Madam Septuagesima (who boasts herself the Mother of -the Days) wisely diverted the conversation with a tedious tale of the -lovers which she could reckon when she was young, and of one Master -Rogation Day in particular, who was for ever putting the question to -her; but she kept him at a distance, as the chronicle would tell--by -which I apprehend she meant the Almanack. Then she rambled on to the -Days that were gone, the good old Days, and so to the Days before the -Flood--which plainly showed her old head to be little better than -crazed and doited. - -Day being ended, the Days called for their cloaks and greatcoats, and -took their leaves. Lord Mayor's Day went off in a Mist, as usual; -Shortest Day in a deep black Fog, that wrapt the little gentleman -all round like a hedgehog. Two Vigils--so watchmen are called in -heaven--saw Christmas Day safe home--they had been used to the business -before. Another Vigil--a stout, sturdy patrole, called the Eve of St. -Christopher--seeing Ash Wednesday in a condition little better than he -should be--e'en whipt him over his shoulders, pick-a-back fashion, and -Old Mortification went floating home singing-- - - On the bat's back do I fly, - -and a number of old snatches besides, between drunk and sober, but -very few Aves or Penitentiaries (you may believe me) were among them. -Longest Days set off westward in beautiful crimson and gold--the rest, -some in one fashion, some in another; but Valentine and pretty May took -their departure together in one of the prettiest silvery twilights a -Lover's Day could wish to set in. - - CHARLES LAMB - - -New Year's Rites in the Highlands - -New Year's Day was not in pre-Reformation times associated with any -special rites. Hence Scottish Reformers, while subjecting to discipline -those who observed Christmas, were willing that New Year's Day should -be appropriated to social pleasures. Towards the closing hour of the -31st December each family prepared a hot pint of wassail bowl of which -all the members might drink to each other's prosperity as the new year -began. Hot pint usually consisted of a mixture of spiced and sweetened -ale with an infusion of whiskey. Along with the drinking of the hot -pint was associated the practice of _first foot_, or a neighborly -greeting. After the year had commenced, each one hastened to his -neighbor's house bearing a small gift; it was deemed "unlucky" to enter -"empty handed." - -With New Year's Day were in some portions of the Highlands associated -peculiar rites. At Strathdown the junior anointed in bed the elder -members of the household with water, which the evening before had been -silently drawn from "the dead and living food." Thereafter they kindled -in each room, after closing the chimneys, bunches of juniper. These -rites, the latter attended with much discomfort, were held to ward off -pestilence and sorcery. - -The direction of the wind on New Year's Eve was supposed to rule the -weather during the approaching year. Hence the rhyme: - - If New Year's Eve night-wind blow south, - It betokeneth warmth and growth; - If west, much milk,--and fish in the sea: - If north, much cold and storms there will be; - If east, the trees will bear much fruit; - If north-east, flee it, man and brute. - - CHARLES ROGERS in _Social Life in Scotland_ - - -The Chinese New Year - -The anniversary of the New Year in China follows the variations of a -lunar year, falling in early February or toward the end of January; the -rejoicings are continued with great spirit for a week or more. - -On the last day of the old year, accounts are settled, debts cancelled, -and books carefully balanced in every mercantile establishment from -the largest merchants or bankers, down to the itinerant venders of -cooked food and vegetable-mongers. In every house the swanpaun, or -calculating machine, is in use. This nation does not write down -figures, but reckons with surprising rapidity and accuracy by the aid -of a small frame of wood crossed with wires like columns and small -balls strung on them for counters. - -It is considered disgraceful, and almost equivalent to an act of -bankruptcy, if all accounts are not settled the last day of the old -year; consequently it frequently happens that articles of ornament or -curiosity can be purchased at low rates in the last week of the year -from the desire of merchants to sacrifice their stock rather than go -without ready money. In all courts the official seals are locked in -strong-boxes, till the holiday is at an end. - -On the last day of the old year is observed the ancient custom of -surrounding the furnace. A feast is spread in great form before males -in one room, females in another; underneath the table exactly in the -centre is placed a brazier filled with lighted wood or charcoal; -fireworks are discharged, gilt paper burned, and the feast eaten, the -younger sons serving the head of the house. After the repast there is -more burning of gilt paper, and the ashes are divided, while still -smouldering, into twelve heaps, which are anxiously watched. The twelve -heaps are each allotted to a month, and it is believed that from -the length of time it takes each heap to die completely out, can be -predicted the changes of rain or drought which will be of benefit to -the crops or the reverse. - -The first celebration of the New Year is the offering _to heaven and -earth_. A table in the principal entrance is spread with a bucket of -rice, five or ten bowls of different vegetables (no meats) ten cups -of tea, ten cups of wine, two large red candles, and three sticks of -common incense or one large stick of a more fragrant kind. In the -wooden bucket holding the rice are stuck flowers or bits of fragrant -cedar, and ten pairs of chopsticks. On the sticks are laid mock money -only used at this season; to one of the sticks is suspended by a red -string an almanac of the coming year; and near the centre of the -table is always displayed a bowl of oranges. Then after a display of -fireworks each member of the family approaches and performs homage -by a ceremony of triple bowings. This is succeeded by ceremonies of -veneration to ancestors and tokens of respect and reverence to living -ancestors or relatives--but to the living neither incense, nor candle -nor mock money is offered,--not even food except the omnipresent loose -skinned orange whose colloquial name is the same as the term for -"fortunate." - -On New Year's Day, the houses are decorated with inscriptions which are -hung at either side of the door, on the pillars or frames, and in the -interior of the houses; some are suspended from long poles attached -to the outside of the house. The color of the paper indicates whether -during the preceding year the inmates of the house have lost a relative -and if so the degree of the relation of the dead person to those -within. Those who are not in mourning use a brilliant crimson paper; -in many cases the word _happiness_ is repeated innumerable times; on -some are more ambitious mottoes:--"May I be so learned as to bear in -my memory the substance of three millions of volumes," "May I know the -affairs of the whole universe for six thousand years," "I will cheat no -man." The monasteries declare "Our lives are pure" and the nunneries -"We are grandmothers in heart." - -In some parts of China there prevails a curious custom among mendicants -of electing a chief who goes to each shopkeeper and asks a donation. -If that received be liberal, a piece of red paper affixed to the -merchant's doorway exempts him from applications from the begging -fraternity for one year. During this term of immunity there will be no -annoyance from the clatter on his doorpost of the beggars' bamboo. - -For the time being, business is suspended, tribunals are closed, houses -are decorated, gifts interchanged, large sums expended on fireworks, -and the celebration reaches full swing on the night of the Feast of -Lanterns, when every dwelling in the Kingdom from the mud-walled bamboo -hut, to the Emperor's palace with marble halls, are all illuminated -with lanterns of every size and shape. At the end of the feast a great -pyrotechnic display takes place, in the courtyard of the better class -of residences, in the streets before the abodes of the middle and lower -classes, each one trying to outdo the year before in the magnificence -of the display, the strangeness of the devices, and the brilliancy of -the fireworks. The air is illumined with millions of sparks, and the -eye rests upon thousands of grotesque monsters outlined in the many -colored flames. - - H. C. SIRR in _China and the Chinese_ - - -New Year's Gifts in Thessaly - -No good Thessalian would think of being absent from the liturgy on New -Year's morning, and no good peasant would think of leaving behind him -the pomegranate which has been exposed to the stars all night, and -which they take to the church for the priest to bless. On his return -home the master of each house dashes this pomegranate on the floor -as he crosses his threshold, and says as he does so, "May as many -good-lucks come to my household as there are pips in this pomegranate;" -and apostrophizing, so to speak, the demons of the house, he adds, -"Away with you, fleas, and bugs, and evil words; and within this house -may health, happiness, and the good things of this world reign supreme!" - -In like manner, no good housewife would neglect to distribute sweets -to her children on New Year's morning, considering that by eating them -they will secure for themselves a sweet career for the rest of the year. - -And many other little superstitions of a kindred nature are considered -essential to the well-being of the family. In one house we entered -on New Year's Day we were presented with pieces of a curious and -exceedingly nasty leavened loaf, and were told that this is the New -Year's cake which every family makes; into it is dropped a coin, and he -who gets the coin in his slice will be the luckiest during the coming -year. Every member of the family has a slice given to him--even the -tiny baby, who has not the remotest chance of consuming all his; and -then besides the family slices, two large ones are always cut off the -cake and set on one side; one of these is said to be "for the house," -which nobody eats, but when it is quite dry it is put on a shelf near -the sacred pictures, which occupy a corner in every home, however -humble, and is dedicated to the saints--the household gods of the old -days. The other slice is for the poor, who go around with baskets -on their arms on New Year's Day and collect from each household the -portion which they know has been put aside for them. - -Every Thessalian, however poor, gives a New Year's gift "for good -luck," they say; and these gifts curiously enough are called -ἐπινομίδες--a word which we find Athenænus using as a translation of -the Roman term _strena_ for the same gift, which still exists in the -French _étrennes_ and Italian _strenne_. Even as in ancient Rome gifts -were given on this day _bona ominis causa_ so did we find ourselves -constantly presented with something on New Year's Day--nuts, apples, -dried figs, and things of a like nature, which caused our pockets to -become inconveniently crowded. I fancy it was much the same in Roman -days and probably earlier as it is now in out of the way corners of -Greece. We know how on New Year's Day clients sent presents to their -patrons--slaves to the lords, friends to friends, and the people to the -Emperor--and that Caligula, who was never a rich man, took advantage of -this custom and made known that on New Year's Day he wanted a dower for -his daughter, which resulted in such piles of gold being brought that -he walked barefoot upon them at his palace door. - -The custom of giving New Year's gifts in Rome grew as great a nuisance -as wedding presents bid fair to become with us, and sumptuary laws -had to be passed to restrict the lavish expenditure in them, and -the earlier Christian divines took occasion to abuse them hotly, -St. Augustine calling New Year's gifts "diabolical" and Chrysostom -preaching that the first of the year was a "Satanic extravagance." - -Wishing to Christianize a pagan custom as they always tried to do, -these earlier divines invented Christmas gifts as a substitute. -Wherefore we unfortunate dwellers in the West have the survival of both -Christmas and New Year's gifts; in Greece Christmas gifts are unknown; -but there exists not in Greece a man, however poor, who does not make -an effort to give his friends a gift on the day of the Kalends. - - J. THEODORE BENT - - -"Smashing" in the New Year - -The Old Year went out with much such a racket as we make nowadays, -but of quite a different kind. We did not blow the New Year in, we -"smashed" it in. When it was dark on New Year's Eve, we stole out with -all the cracked and damaged crockery of the year that had been hoarded -for the purpose and, hieing ourselves to some favorite neighbor's door, -broke our pots against it. Then we ran, but not very far or very fast, -for it was part of the game that if one was caught at it, he was to -be taken in and treated to hot doughnuts. The smashing was a mark of -favor, and the citizen who had most pots broken against his door was -the most popular man in town. When I was in the Latin School a cranky -burgomaster, whose door had been freshly painted, gave orders to the -watchmen to stop it, and gave them an unhappy night, for they were hard -put to it to find a way it was safe to look, with the streets full of -the best citizens in town, and their wives and daughters, sneaking -singly by with bulging coats on their way to salute a friend. That was -when our mothers, those who were not out smashing in the New Year, came -out strong after the fashion of mothers. They baked more doughnuts -than ever that night, and beckoned the watchman in to the treat; and -there he sat, blissfully deaf while the street rang with the thunderous -salvos of our raids; until it was discovered that the burgomaster -himself was on post, when there was a sudden rush from kitchen doors -and a great scurrying through the streets that grew strangely silent. - -The town had its revenge, however. The burgomaster, returning home in -the midnight hour, stumbled in his gate over a discarded Christmas-tree -hung full of old boots and many black and sooty pots that went down -round him with a great smash as he upset it, so that his family came -running out in alarm to find him sprawling in the midst of the biggest -celebration of all. His dignity suffered a shock which he never quite -got over. But it killed the New Year's fun, too. For he was really a -good fellow, and then he was the burgomaster and chief of police to -boot. I suspect the fact was that the pot-smashing had run its course. -Perhaps the supply of pots was giving out; we began to use tinware more -about that time. That was the end of it, anyhow. - - JACOB RIIS in _The Old Town_ - - -New Year Calls in Old New York - -From old Dutch times to the middle of the nineteenth century New Year's -Day in New York was devoted to an universal interchange of visits. Old -friendships were renewed, family differences settled, a hearty welcome -extended even to strangers of presentable appearance. - -The following is an entry in Tyrone Powers the actor's diary for -January 1, 1834: "On this day from an early hour every door in New -York is open and all the good things possessed by the inmates paraded -in lavish profusion. Every sort of vehicle is put in requisition. At -an early hour a gentleman of whom I had a slight knowledge entered my -room, accompanied by an elderly person I had never before seen, and -who, on being named, excused himself for adopting such a frank mode of -making my acquaintance, which he was pleased to add he much desired, -and at once requested me to fall in with the custom of the day, whose -privilege he had thus availed himself of, and accompany him on a visit -to his family. - -"I was the last man on earth likely to decline an offer made in such a -spirit; so entering his carriage, which was waiting, we drove to his -house on Broadway, where, after being presented to a very amiable lady, -his wife, and a pretty gentle-looking girl, his daughter, I partook of -a sumptuous luncheon, drank a glass of champagne, and on the arrival of -other visitors, made my bow, well pleased with my visit. - -"My host now begged me to make a few calls with him, explaining, as we -drove along, the strict observances paid to this day throughout the -State, and tracing the excellent custom to the early Dutch colonists. -I paid several calls in company with my new friend, and at each place -met a hearty welcome, when my companion suggested that I might have -some compliments to make on my own account, and so leaving me, begged -me to consider his carriage perfectly at my disposal. I left a card -or two and made a couple of hurried visits, then returned to my hotel -to think over the many beneficial effects likely to grow out of such -a charitable custom which makes even the stranger sensible of the -benevolent influence of this kindly day, and to wish for its continued -observance." - -At the period of which Power speaks there were great feasts spread in -many houses, and the traditions of tremendous Dutch eating and drinking -were faithfully observed. Special houses were noted for particular -forms of entertainment. At one it was eggnog, at another rum punch; -at this one, pickled oysters, at that, boned turkey, or marvellous -chocolate, or perfect Mocha coffee; or for the select _cognoscenti_ a -drop of old Madeira as delicate in flavor as the texture of the glass -from which it was sipped. At all houses there were the New Year's -cakes, in the form of an Egyptian _cartouche_, and in later and more -degenerate days relays of champagne-bottles appeared,--the coming in of -the lower empire. - -Then followed the gradual breaking down of all the lines of -conventionality into a wild and unseemly riot of visits. New Year's -Day took on the character of a rabid and untamed race against time. A -procession, each of whose component parts was made up of two or three -young men in an open barouche, with a pair of steaming horses and a -driver more or less under the influences of the hilarity of the day, -would rattle from one house to another all day long. The visitors -would jump out of the carriage, rush into the house, and reappear in -a miraculously short space of time. The ceremony of calling was a -burlesque. There was a noisy, hilarious greeting, a glass of wine was -swallowed hurriedly, everybody shook hands all around, and the callers -dashed out, rushed into the carriage, and were driven hurriedly to the -next house. - -A reaction naturally set in which ended in the almost complete disuse -of the custom of New Year's Calls. - - W. S. WALSH in _Curiosities of Popular Customs_ - - -Sylvester Abend in Davos - -It is ten o'clock upon Sylvester Abend, or New Year's Eve. Herr Buol -sits with his wife at the head of his long table. His family and -serving-folk are around him. There is his mother, with little Ursula, -his child, upon her knee. The old lady is the mother of four comely -daughters and nine stalwart sons, the eldest of whom is now a grizzled -man. Besides our host, four of the brothers are here to-night; the -handsome melancholy Georg, who is so gentle in his speech; Simeon, -with his diplomatic face; Florian, the student of medicine; and my -friend, colossal-breasted Christian. Palmy came a little later, worried -with many cares, but happy to his heart's core. No optimist was ever -more convinced of his philosophy than Palmy. After them, below the -salt, were ranged the knechts and porters, the marmiton from the -kitchen, and innumerable maids. The board was tessellated with plates -of birnen-brod and eier-brod, kuchli and cheese and butter; and Georg -stirred grampampuli in a mighty metal bowl. For the uninitiated, it may -be needful to explain these Davos delicacies. Birnen-brod is what the -Scotch would call a "bun," or massive cake, composed of sliced pears, -almonds, spices, and a little flour. Eier-brod is a saffron-coloured -sweet bread, made with eggs; and kuchli is a kind of pastry, crisp and -flimsy, fashioned into various devices of cross, star, and scroll. -Grampampuli is simply brandy burnt with sugar, the most unsophisticated -punch I ever drank from tumblers. The frugal people of Davos, who live -on bread and cheese and dried meat all the year, indulge themselves but -once with these unwonted dainties in the winter. - -The occasion was cheerful, and yet a little solemn. The scene was -feudal. For these Buols are the scions of a warrior race:-- - - "A race illustrious for heroic deeds; - Humbled, but degraded." - -During the six centuries through which they have lived nobles in -Davos, they have sent forth scores of fighting men to foreign lands, -ambassadors to France and Venice and the Milanese, governors to -Chiavenna and Bregaglia and the much-contested Valtelline. Members of -their house are Counts of Buol-Schauenstein in Austria, Freiherrs of -Muhlingen and Berenberg in the now German Empire. They keep the patent -of nobility conferred on them by Henri IV. Their ancient coat--parted -per pale azure and argent, with a dame of the fourteenth century -bearing in her hand a rose, all counterchanged--is carved in wood and -monumental marble on the churches and old houses hereabouts. And from -immemorial antiquity the Buol of Davos has sat thus on Sylvester Abend -with family and folk around him, summoned from alp and snowy field to -drink grampampuli and break the birnen-brod. - -These rites performed, the men and maids began to sing--brown arms -lounging on the table, and red hands folded in white aprons--serious at -first in hymn-like cadences, then breaking into wilder measures with a -jodel at the close. There is a measured solemnity in the performance, -which strikes the stranger as somewhat comic. But the singing was good; -the voices strong and clear in tone, no hesitation and no shirking of -the melody. It was clear that the singers enjoyed the music for its -own sake, with half-shut eyes, as they take dancing, solidly, with -deep-drawn breath, sustained and indefatigable. But eleven struck; and -the two Christians, my old friend and Palmy, said we should be late -for church. They had promised to take me with them to see bell-ringing -in the tower. All the young men of the village meet, and draw lots in -the Stube of the Rathhaus. One party tolls the old year out, the other -rings the new year in. He who comes last is sconced three litres of -Veltliner for the company. This jovial fine was ours to pay to-night. - -When we came into the air we found a bitter frost; the whole sky -clouded over; a north wind whirling snow from alp and forest through -the murky gloom. The benches and broad walnut tables of the Rathhaus -were crowded with men in shaggy homespun of brown and grey frieze. -Its low wooden roof and walls enclosed an atmosphere of smoke, denser -than the eternal snow-drift. But our welcome was hearty, and we found -a score of friends. Titanic Fopp, whose limbs are Michelangelesque -in length; spectacled Morosani; the little tailor Kramer, with a -French horn on his knees; the puckered forehead of the Baumeister; the -Troll-shaped postman; peasants and woodmen, known on far excursions -upon pass and upland valley. Not one but carried on his face the memory -of winter strife with avalanche and snow-drift, of horses struggling -through Fluela whirlwinds, and wine-casks tugged across Bernina, and -haystacks guided down precipitous gullies at thundering speed 'twixt -pine and pine, and larches felled in distant glens beside the frozen -watercourses. Here we were, all met together for one hour from our -several homes and occupations, to welcome in the year with clinked -glasses and cries of Prosit Neujahr! - -The tolling bells above us stopped. Our turn had come. Out into the -snowy air we tumbled, beneath the row of wolves' heads that adorn -the pent-house roof. A few steps brought us to the still God's acre, -where the snow lay deep and cold upon high-mounded graves of many -generations. We crossed it silently, bent our heads to the low Gothic -arch, and stood within the tower. It was thick darkness there. But far -above, the bells began again to clash and jangle confusedly, with -volleys of demoniac joy. Successive flights of ladders, each ending in -a giddy platform hung across the gloom, climb to the height of some -hundred and fifty feet; and all their rungs were crusted with frozen -snow, deposited by trampling boots. For up and down these stairs, -ascending and descending, moved other than angels--the frieze-jacketed -Burschen, Grisens bears, rejoicing in their exercise, exhilarated with -the tingling noise of beaten metal. We reached the first room safely, -guided by firm-footed Christian, whose one candle just defined the -rough walls and the slippery steps. There we found a band of boys -pulling ropes that set the bells in motion. But our destination was not -reached. One more aerial ladder, perpendicular in darkness, brought -us swiftly to the home of sound. It is a small square chamber, where -the bells are hung, filled with the interlacement of enormous beams, -and pierced to north and south by open windows, from whose parapets I -saw the village and the valley spread beneath. The fierce wind hurried -through it, charged with snow, and its narrow space thronged with -men. Men on the platform, men on the window-sills, men grappling the -bells with iron arms, men brushing by to reach the stairs, crossing, -re-crossing, shouldering their mates, drinking red wine from gigantic -beakers, exploding crackers, firing squibs, shouting and yelling in -corybantic chorus. They yelled and shouted, one could see it by their -open mouths and glittering eyes; but not a sound from human lungs -could reach our ears. The overwhelming incessant thunder of the bells -drowned all. It thrilled the tympanum, ran through the marrow of -the spine, vibrated in the inmost entrails. Yet the brain was only -steadied and excited by this sea of brazen noise. After a few moments -I knew the place and felt at home in it. Then I enjoyed a spectacle -which sculptors might have envied. For they ring the bells in Davos -after this fashon:--The lads below set them going with ropes. The -men above climb in pairs on ladders to the beams from which they are -suspended. Two mighty pine-trees, roughly squared and built into the -walls, extend from side to side across the belfry. Another, from which -the bells hang, connects these massive trunks at right angles. Just -where the central beam is wedged into the two parallel supports, the -ladders reach from each side of the belfry, so that, bending from the -higher rung of the ladder, and leaning over, stayed upon the lateral -beam, each pair of men can keep one bell in movement with their hands. -Each comrade plants one leg upon the ladder, and sets the other knee -firmly athwart the horizontal pine. Then round each other's waist they -twine left arm and right. The two have thus become one man. Right arm -and left are free to grasp the bell's horns, sprouting at its crest -beneath the beam. With a grave rhythmic motion, bending sideward in a -close embrace, swaying and returning to their centre from the well-knit -loins, they drive the force of each strong muscle into the vexed bell. -The impact is earnest at first, but soon it becomes frantic. The men -take something from each other of exalted enthusiasm. This efflux -of their combined energies inspires them and exasperates the mighty -resonance of metal which they rule. They are lost in a trance of what -approximates to dervish passion--so thrilling is the surge of sound, so -potent are the rhythms they obey. Men come and tug them by the heels. -One grasps the starting thews upon their calves. Another is impatient -for their place. But they strain still, locked together, and forgetful -of the world. At length, they have enough: then slowly, clingingly, -unclasp, turn round with gazing eyes, and are resumed, sedately, into -the diurnal round of common life. Another pair is in their room upon -the beam. - -The Englishman who saw those things stood looking up, enveloped in his -ulster with the grey cowl thrust upon his forehead, like a monk. One -candle cast a grotesque shadow of him on the plastered wall. And when -his chance came, though he was but a weakling, he too climbed and for -some moments hugged the beam, and felt the madness of the swinging -bell. Descending, he wondered long and strangely whether he ascribed -too much of feeling to the men he watched. But no, that was impossible. -There are emotions deeply seated in the joy of exercise, when the body -is brought into play, and masses move in concert, of which the subject -is but half conscious. Music and dance, and the delirium of the battle -or the chase, act thus upon spontaneous natures. The mystery of rhythm -and associated energy and blood tingling in sympathy is here. It lies -at the root of man's most tyrannous instinctive impulses. - -It was past one when we reached home, and now a meditative man might -well have gone to bed. But no one thinks of sleeping on Sylvester -Abend. So there followed bowls of punch in one friend's room, where -English, French, and German blent together in convivial Babel; and -flasks of old Montagner in another. Palmy, at this period, wore an -archdeacon's hat, and smoked a church-warden's pipe; and neither -were his own, nor did he derive anything ecclesiastical or Anglican -from the association. Late in the morning we must sally forth, they -said, and roam the town. For it is the custom here on New Year's -night to greet acquaintances, and ask for hospitality, and no one may -deny these self-invited guests. We turned out again into the grey -snow-swept gloom, a curious Comus--not at all like Greeks, for we had -neither torches in our hands nor rose-wreaths to suspend upon a lady's -door-posts.... - -However, upon this occasion, though we had winter wind enough, and cold -enough, there was not much love in the business. My arm was firmly -clenched in Christian Buol's, and Christian Palmy came behind, trolling -out songs in Italian dialect, with still recurring canaille choruses, -of which the facile rhymes seemed mostly made on a prolonged amu-u-u-r. -It is noticeable that Italian ditties are especially designed for -fellows shouting in the streets at night.... The tall church-tower and -spire loomed up above us in grey twilight. The tireless wind still -swept thin snow from fell and forest. But the frenzied bells had sunk -into their twelve-month's slumber, which shall be broken only by -decorous tollings at less festive times. I wondered whether they were -tingling still with the heart-throbs and with the pressure of those -many arms? Was their old age warmed, as mine was, with that gust of -life--the young men who had clung to them like bees to lily-bells, and -shaken all their locked-up tone and shrillness into the wild winter -air? Alas! how many generations of the young have handled them; and -they are still there, frozen in their belfry; and the young grow -middle-aged, and old, and die at last; and the bells they grappled in -their lust of manhood toll them to their graves, on which the tireless -wind will, winter after winter, sprinkle snow from alps and forests -which they knew. - - JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS - - - - -XI - -TWELFTH NIGHT - -[Illustration: TWELFTH NIGHT] - - "Now have Good Day!" - A Twelfth Night Superstition - Twelfth-Day Table Diversion - The Blessing of the Waters - La Galette du Roi - Drawing King and Queen on Twelfth Night - St. Distaff's Day and Plough Monday - -[Illustration] - - Down with the rosemary and bays, - Down with the mistletoe; - Instead of holly, now up-raise - The greener box, for show. - - The holly hitherto did sway; - Let box now domineer, - Until the dancing Easter-day, - On Easter's Eve appear. - - ROBERT HERRICK - - -Now have Good Day - - _Now have good day, now have good day! - I am Christmas, and now I go my way!_ - - Here have I dwelt with more and less, - From Hallow-tide till Candlemas! - And now must I from you hence pass, - _Now have good day!_ - - I take my leave of King and Knight, - And Earl, Baron, and lady bright! - To wilderness I must me dight! - _Now have good day!_ - - And at the good lord of this hall, - I take my leave, and of guests all! - Methinks I hear Lent doth call, - _Now have good day!_ - - And at every worthy officer, - Marshall, painter, and butler, - I take my leave as for this year, - _Now have good day!_ - - Another year I trust I shall - Make merry in this hall! - If rest and peace in England may fall! - _Now have good day!_ - - But often times I have heard say, - That he is loth to part away, - That often biddeth "have good day!" - _Now have good day!_ - - Now fare ye well all in-fere! - Now fare ye well for all this year, - Yet for my sake make ye good cheer! - _Now have good day!_ - - _From a Balliol MS. of c. 1540_ - - -A Twelfth Night Superstition - - Twice six nights then from Christmasse, they do count with diligence, - Where in eche maister in his house doth burne by franckensence: - And on the table settes a loafe, when night approcheth nere, - Before the coles and franckensence to be perfumed there: - First bowing down his heade he standes, and nose and eares and eyes - He smokes, and with hos mouth receyves the fume that doth arise - Whom followeth streight his wife, and doth the same full solemly, - And of their children every one and all their family; - Which doth preserve they say their teeth and nose and eye and eare - From every kind of maladie, and sicknesse all the yeare. - When every one receyued hath this odour great and small - Then one takes up the pan with coales, and franckensence and all - An other takes the loafe, whom all the rest do follow here. - And round about the house they go with torch or taper clere, - That neither bread nor meat do want, nor witch with dreadful charme - Have power to hurt their children or to do their cattell harme - There are that three nightes only do perfoure this foolish geare - To this intent, and thinke themselves in safetie all the yeare. - - BARNABY GOOGE'S versification of _The Popish Kingdome_ - - -Twelfth-Day Table Diversion - -John Nott, describing himself as "late cook to the dukes of Somerset, -Ormond, and Batton," writes in 1726: "Ancient artists in cookery inform -us that in former days, when good housekeeping was in fashion amongst -the English nobility, they used either to begin or conclude their -entertainments, and divert their guests with such pretty devices as -these following, viz:-- - -A castle made of pasteboard, with gates, drawbridges, battlements and -portcullises, all done over with paste, was set upon a table in a -large charger, with salt laid round about it, as if it were the ground -in which were stuck egg-shells full of rose or other sweet waters, -the meat of the egg having been taken out by a great pin. Upon the -battlement of the castle were planted Kexes covered over with paste, in -the form of cannons, and made to look like brass by covering them with -dutch leaf-gold. These cannons being charged with gunpowder, and trains -laid so that you might fire as many as you pleased, at one touch; this -castle was set at one end of the table. - -Then in the middle of the table, they would set a stag made of paste, -but hollow, and filled with claret wine, and a broad arrow stuck in his -side; this was also set in a large charger, with a ground made of salt -with egg-shells of perfumed waters stuck in it as before. - -Then at the other end of the table, they would have a ship made of -pasteboard, and covered all over with paste, with masts, sails, flags, -and streamers; and guns made of Kexes, covered with paste and charged -with gunpowder, with a train, as in the castle. This being placed in -a large charger was set upright in as it were a sea of salt, in which -were also stuck egg-shells full of perfumed waters. Then betwixt the -stag and castle, and the stag and ship, were placed two pies made of -coarse paste, filled with bran, and washed over with saffron and the -yolks of eggs; when these were baked the bran was taken out, a hole -was cut in the bottom of each, and live birds put into one and frogs -into the other. Then the holes were closed up with paste, and the lids -neatly cut up, so that they might be easily taken off by the funnels, -and adorned with gilded laurels. - -These being thus prepared, and placed in order on the table, one of the -ladies was persuaded to draw the arrow out of the body of the stag, -which being done the claret wine issued forth like blood from a wound -and caused admiration in the spectators; which being over, after a -little pause, all the guns on one side of the castle were by a train -discharged against the ship; and afterwards the guns of one side of -the ship were discharged against the castle; then, having turned the -chargers, the other sides were fired off as in a battle. This causing a -great smell of powder, the ladies or gentlemen took up the eggshells -of perfumed water and threw them at one another. This pleasant disorder -being pretty well laughed over, and the two great pies still remaining -untouched, some one or other would have the curiosity to see what was -in them and on lifting up the lid of one pie, out would jump the -frogs, which would make the ladies skip and scamper; and on lifting up -the lid of the other out would fly the birds, which would naturally -fly at the light and so put out the candles. And so with the leaping -of the frogs below, and the flying of the birds above, would cause a -surprising and diverting hurley burley among the guests, in the dark. -After which the candles being lighted, the banquet would be brought -in, the music sound, and the particulars of each person's surprise and -adventures furnish matter for diverting discourse. - - _The Cook and Confectioner's Dictionary_, 1726 - - -The Blessing of the Waters - -I was anxious to be present at the early liturgy of the morning of -Epiphany to witness the ceremony of the blessing of the waters in the -pretty quaint village on the island of Skiathos in a far-away corner -of Greece. It was a great effort, for the night had been cold and -stormy; however, by some process which will never be quite clear to -me, I managed to find myself at the door of the one church with its -many storied bell-tower, soon after four o'clock. Very quaint indeed it -looked as I went out of the cold darkness into the brilliantly lighted -church, and saw the pious islanders kneeling all around on the cold -floor as the liturgy was being chanted prior to the blessing of the -waters. Near the entrance stood the font filled to the brim; and close -to it was placed an eikon or sacred picture, representing the baptism -of our Lord; around the font were stuck many candles fastened by their -own grease; whilst pots and jugs of every size and description, full -of water, stood about on the floor in the immediate vicinity of the -font. - -After the priest had chanted the somewhat tedious litany from the steps -of the high altar, he set off dressed sumptuously in his gold brocaded -vestments, round the church with a large cross in one hand, and a sprig -of basil in the other, accompanied by two acolytes, who waved their -censers and cast about a pleasant odor of frankincense. Every one was -prostrate as the priest read the appointed Scripture, signed the water -in the font and in the adjacent jugs with the cross and threw into the -font his sprig of basil. No sooner was this solemn impressive ceremony -over than there was a general rush from all sides with mugs and bottles -to secure some of this consecrated water. Everybody laughed and hustled -his neighbor; even the priest, with the cross in his hand, stood -and watched them with a grin. The sudden change from the preceding -solemnity was ludicrous in the extreme. - -Before taking his departure for his home each person went up to kiss -the cross which the priest held and to be sprinkled with water from -the sprig of basil. Each person had brought his own sprig of basil -which he presented to the priest to bless, and in return for this favor -dropped a small coin into the plate held by one of the acolytes. Basil -is always held to be a sacred plant in Greece. The legend says that it -grew on Christ's tomb, and they imagine that this is the reason why its -leaves grow in a cruciform shape. In nearly every humble Greek dwelling -you may see a dried sprig of basil hanging in the household sanctuary. -It is this sprig which has been blessed at the Feast of Lights. It is -most effectual say they in keeping off the influence of the evil eye. - -The day broke fine and the violence of the storm was over. Yet our -captain still lingered saying that perhaps toward evening we might -start, and for this delay I believe I discovered the reason. Towards -midday on Epiphany it is customary among these seafaring islanders to -hold a solemn function, closely akin to the one I had witnessed in the -church that morning, namely, the blessing of the sea. - -From their homes by the shore the fishermen came, and all the -inhabitants of Skiathos assembled on the quay to join the procession -which descended from the church by a zigzag path, headed by two priests -and two acolytes behind them waving censers, and men carrying banners -and the large cross. - -Very touching it was to watch the deep devotion of these hardy -seafaring men as they knelt on the shore whilst the litany was being -chanted, and whilst the chief priest blest the waves with his cross and -invoked the blessing of the most High on the many and varied crafts -which were riding at anchor in Skiathos harbor. When the service was -over there followed, as in the morning, an unseemly bustle, so ready -are these vivacious people to turn from the solemn to the gay. Every -one chatted with his neighbor and pressed forward toward a little -jetty to see the fun. Presently the priest advanced to the end of this -jetty with the cross in his hand, and after tying a heavy stone to it -he threw it into the sea. Thereupon there was a general rush into the -water; men and boys with their clothes on plunged and dived until at -length to the applause of the bystanders one young man succeeded in -bringing the cross to the surface, stone and all. A subscription was -then raised for the successful diver, the proceeds of which were spent -by him in ordering many glasses of wine at the nearest coffee shop, -and the wet men sat down for a heavy drink--to drive out the chill, I -suppose. - -In many places you will find the boats hauled upon the beach the day -before Christmas, and nothing will induce their owners to launch them -again until after the blessing of the sea. I am sure the captain of -our steamer shared the superstition, though he chose to laugh at the -islanders' ways; for a few hours after the sea had been blessed we -put out into it, and I imagine could have started hours before if the -captain had been so inclined. - - J. T. BENT - - -La Galette du Roi - -In France, where it probably originated, the Twelfth Night cake, known -as La Galette du Roi ("the king's cake"), still survives. - -The cake is generally made of pastry, and baked in a round sheet like -a pie. The size of the cake depends on the number of persons in the -company. In former times a broad bean was baked in the cake, but now a -small china doll is substituted. - -[Illustration: THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. _Memling._] - -The cake is the last course in the dinner. One of the youngest people -at the table is asked to say to whom each piece shall be given. This -creates a little excitement and all watch breathlessly to see who gets -the doll. The person who gets it is king or queen, and immediately -chooses a king or queen for a partner. So soon as the king and queen -are announced they are under the constant observation of the rest of -the party and whatever they do is immediately commented upon. In a -short time there is a perfect uproar: "The king drinks," "the queen -speaks," "the queen laughs." This is kept up for a long time; then -there are games, music and dancing. - - WILLIAM HONE in the _Everyday Book_ - - -Drawing King and Queen on Twelfth Night - -Hone, in his _Everyday Book_, describes a drawing as it was conducted -in 1823: "First, buy your cake. Then, before your visitors arrive, buy -your characters (painted cards), each of which should have a pleasant -verse beneath. Next, look at your invitation list and count the number -of ladies you expect; and afterwards the number of gentlemen. Then -take as many female characters as you have invited ladies; fold them -up, exactly of the same size, and number each on the back, taking care -to make the King No. 1 and the Queen No. 2. Then prepare and number -the gentlemen's characters. Cause tea and coffee to be handed to your -visitors as they drop in. When all are assembled, and tea over, put as -many ladies' characters in a reticule as there are ladies present; next -put the gentlemen's characters in a hat. Then call a gentleman to carry -the reticule to the ladies, as they sit, from which each lady is to -draw one ticket and preserve it unopened. Select a lady to bear the hat -to the gentlemen for the same purpose. There will be one ticket left in -the reticule and another in the hat, which the lady and gentleman who -carried each is to interchange, as having fallen to each. Next arrange -your visitors according to their numbers--the King No. 1, the Queen No. -2, and so on. The king is then to recite the verse on his ticket, then -the queen the verse on hers, and so the characters are to proceed in -numerical order. - -This done, let the cake and refreshments go round, and hey! for -merriment. - - -St. Distaff's Day and Plough Monday - -The day after Epiphany was called St. Distaff's day by country people, -because the Christmas holidays being ended the time had come for the -resumption of the distaff and other industrious employments of good -housewives. - -The Monday after Twelfthday was a similar occasion for the resumption -of agricultural labors. Another writer connects the day with a custom -which among farm servants corresponded somewhat to the 'prentices -Boxing Day. The usage was "to draw around a plough and solicit money -with guisings, and dancing with swords, preparatory to beginning to -plough after the Christmas holidays." - -Olaus Magnus describes the "dance with swords": First, with swords -sheathed and erect in their hands, they dance in a triple round; then -with their drawn swords held erect as before; afterwards extending them -from hand to hand, they lay hold of each other's hilts and points, -and while they are wheeling more moderately around and changing their -order, they throw themselves into the figure of a hexagon which they -call a rose: but presently raising and drawing back their swords, they -undo that figure, in order to form with them a four-square rose so -that they may rebound over the head of each other. Lastly, they dance -rapidly backwards, and vehemently rattling the sides of their swords -together, conclude their sport. Pipes or songs (sometimes both) direct -the measure which at first is slow, increasing to a very quick movement -at the close. Olaus Magnus adds: "It is scarcely to be understood how -gamely and decent it is." - - WILLIAM HONE in _Year Book_ - - - - -XII - -THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT - -[Illustration: THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT] - - "As Little Children in a Darkened Hall" - Christmas Dreams - The Professor's Christmas Sermon - Awaiting the King - Elizabeth's Christmas Sermon - Nichola's "Reason Why" - The Changing Spirit of Christmastide - A Prayer for Christmas Peace - Under the Holly Bough - Christmas Music - A Christmas Sermon - -[Illustration] - - - As little children in a darkened hall - At Christmas-tide await the opening door, - Eager to tread the fairy-haunted floor - About the tree with goodly gifts for all, - And into the dark unto each other call-- - Trying to guess their happiness before,-- - Or of their elders eagerly implore - Hints of what fortune unto them may fall: - So wait we in Time's dim and narrow room, - And with strange fancies, or another's thought, - Try to divine, before the curtain rise, - The wondrous scene. Yet soon shall fly the gloom, - And we shall see what patient ages sought, - The Father's long-planned gift of Paradise. - - CHARLES HENRY CRANDALL in _Wayside Music_ - -Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons - - -Christmas Dreams - -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. - -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. - -"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 our 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. - -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.... - -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 mansionhouse, 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. 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 have 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. - -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, had 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 "Wildcap!"--That soubriquet 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 dancing, thy -singings, and thy showering smiles. - -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 -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. - -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.... - -For a good many years we have been tied to town in winter by fetters -as fine as frost-work, 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. - -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 -stravaiging 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, bole 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. - -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! - -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. - - CHRISTOPHER NORTH - - -The Professor's Christmas Sermon - - Take all in a word: the truth in God's breast - Lies trace for trace upon ours impressed; - Though he is so bright and we so dim, - We are made in his image to witness him: - And were no eye in us to tell, - Instructed by no inner sense, - The light of heaven from the dark of hell, - That light would want its evidence,-- - Though justice, good and truth were still - Divine, if, by some demon's will, - Hatred and wrong had been proclaimed - Law through the worlds, and right misnamed. - No mere exposition of morality - Made or in part or in totality, - Should win you to give it worship, therefore: - And, if no better proof you will care for, - Whom do you count the worst man upon earth? - Be sure, he knows, in his conscience, more - Of right what is, than arrives at birth - In the best man's acts that we bow before: - This last knows better--true, but my fact is, - 'Tis one thing to know, and another to practise. - And thence I conclude that the real God-function - Is to furnish a motive and injunction - For practising what we know already. - And such an injunction and such a motive - As the God in Christ, do you waive, and "heady, - High-minded," hang your tablet-votive - Outside the fane on a finger-post? - Morality to the uttermost, - Supreme in Christ as we all confess, - Why need we prove would avail no jot - To make him God, if God he were not? - What is the point where himself lays stress? - Does the precept run "Believe in good, - "In justice, truth now understood - "For the first time?"--or, "Believe in me, - "Who lived and died, yet essentially - "Am Lord of Life?" Whoever can take - The same to his heart and for mere love's sake - Conceive of the love,--that man obtains - A new truth; no conviction gains - Of an old one only, made intense - By a fresh appeal to his faded sense. - - ROBERT BROWNING from _Christmas Eve_ - - -Awaiting the King - -That sweetly prophetic evening silence, before the great feast of -Good-Will, does not come over everything each year, even in a lonely -cottage on an abandoned farm in Connecticut, than which you cannot -possibly imagine anything more silent or more remote from the noise of -the world. Sometimes it rains in torrents just on that night, sometimes -it blows a raging gale that twists the leafless birches and elms and -hickory trees like dry grass and bends the dark firs and spruces as if -they were feathers, and you can hardly be heard unless you shout, for -the howling and screaming and whistling of the blast. - -But now and then, once in four or five years perhaps, the feathery snow -lies a foot deep, fresh-fallen, on the still country side and in the -woods; and the waxing moon sheds her large light on all, and Nature -holds her breath to wait for the happy day and tries to sleep, but -cannot from sheer happiness and peace. Indoors, the fire is glowing -on the wide hearth, a great bed of coals that will last all night and -be enough, because it is not bitter weather, but only cold and clear -and still, as it should be; or if there is only a poor stove, like -Overholt's, the iron door is open and a comfortable, cheery red light -shines out from within upon the battered iron plate and the wooden -floor beyond; and the older people sit round it, not saying much, and -thinking with their hearts rather than with their heads, but small -boys and girls know that interesting things have been happening in the -kitchen all the afternoon, and are rather glad that the supper was not -very good, because there will be more room for good things to-morrow; -and the grown-ups and the children have made up any little differences -of opinion they may have had, before supper time, because Good-Will -must reign, and reign alone, like Alexander; so that there is nothing -at all to regret, and nothing hurts anybody any more, and they are all -happy in just waiting for King Christmas to open the door softly and -make them all great people in his kingdom. But if it is the right sort -of house, he is already looking in through the window, to be sure that -everyone is all ready for him, and that nothing has been forgotten. - - F. MARION CRAWFORD in _The Little City of Hope_ - - -Elizabeth's Christmas Sermon - -I cannot see that there was anything gross about our Christmas, and -we were perfectly merry without any need to pretend, and for at least -two days it brought us a little nearer together, and made us kind. -Happiness is so wholesome; it invigorates and warms me into piety -far more effectually than any amount of trials and griefs, and an -unexpected pleasure is the surest means of bringing me to my knees. In -spite of the protestations of some peculiarly constructed persons that -they are the better for trials, I don't believe it. Such things must -sour us, just as happiness must sweeten us, and make us kinder, and -more gentle. And will anybody affirm that it behooves us to be more -thankful for trials than for blessings? We were meant to be happy, -and to accept all the happiness offered with thankfulness--indeed, -we are none of us ever thankful enough, and yet we each get so much, -so very much, more than we deserve. I know a woman--she stayed with -me last summer--who rejoices grimly when those she loves suffer. She -believes that it is our lot, and that it braces us and does us good, -and she would shield no one from even unnecessary pain; she weeps -with the sufferer, but is convinced it is all for the best. Well, let -her continue in her dreary beliefs; she has no garden to teach her -the beauty and the happiness of holiness, nor does she in the least -desire to possess one; her convictions have the sad gray colouring -of the dingy streets and houses she lives amongst--the sad colour -of humanity in masses. Submission to what people call their "lot" is -simply ignoble. If your lot makes you cry and be wretched, get rid -of it and take another; strike out for yourself; don't listen to the -shrieks of your relations, to their gibes or their entreaties; don't -let your own microscopic set prescribe your goings-out and comings-in; -don't be afraid of public opinion in the shape of the neighbour in -the next house, when all the world is before you new and shining, and -everything is possible, if you only be energetic and independent and -seize opportunity by the scruff of the neck. - - From _Elizabeth and her German Garden_ - - -Nichola Expounds "the Reason Why" on Christmas Eve - -"But the whole world helps along," she said shrilly, "or else we should -tear each other's eyes out. What do I do, me? I do not put fruit peel -in the waste paper to worrit the ragman. I do not put potato jackets in -the stove to worrit the ashman. I do not burn the bones because I think -of the next poor dog. What crumbs are left I lay always, always on the -back fence for the birds. I kill no living thing but spiders--which the -devil made. Our Lady knows I do very little. But if I was the men with -pockets on I'd find a way! I'd find a way, me," said Nichola, wagging -her old gray head. - -"Pockets?" Hobart repeated, puzzled. - -"For the love of heaven, yes!" Nichola cried. "Pockets--money--give!" -she illustrated in pantomime. "What can I do? On Thursday nights I -take what sweets are in this house, what flowers are on all the plants, -and I carry them to a hospital I know. If you could see how they wait -for me on the beds! What can I do? The good God gave me almost no -pockets. It is as he says," she nodded to Pelleas, "_Helping is why._ -Yah! None of what you say is so. Mem, I didn't get no time to frost the -nutcakes." - - ZONA GALE in _The Loves of Pelleas and Etarre_ - - -The Changing Spirit of Christmastide - -The English, from the great prevalence of rural habit 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 -rites of Christmas. It is inspiring to read even the dry details which -some antiquarians have given of the quaint humours, the burlesque -pageants, the complete abandonment to mirth and good-fellowship, with -which this festival was celebrated. It seemed to throw open every door, -and 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. - -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 of enjoyment. Pleasure has expanded into -a broader, but 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 -home-bred 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 parlour, -but are unfitted to the light showy saloons and gay drawing-rooms of -the modern villa. - -Shorn, however, as it is, of its ancient and festive honours, Christmas -is still a period of delightful excitement in England. It is gratifying -to see that home feeling completely aroused which seems to hold 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 mid-watches 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. - - WASHINGTON IRVING - - -Charles Kingsley's Prayer for Christmas Peace - -Christmas peace is God's; and he must give it himself, with his own -hand, or we shall never get it. Go then to God himself. Thou art -his child, as Christmas Day declares; be not afraid to go unto thy -Father. Pray to him; tell him what thou wantest: say, "Father, I am -not moderate, reasonable, forbearing. I fear I cannot keep Christmas -aright for I have not a peaceful Christmas spirit in me; and I know -that I shall never get it by thinking, and reading, and understanding; -for it passes all that, and lies far away beyond it, does peace, in the -very essence of thine undivided, unmoved, absolute, eternal Godhead, -which no change nor decay of this created world, nor sin or folly of -men or devils, can ever alter; but which abideth forever what it is, in -perfect rest, and perfect power and perfect love. O Father, give me thy -Christmas peace." - - From _Town and Country Sermons_ - - -Under the Holly Bough - - Ye who have scorned each other, - Or injured friend or brother, - In this fast fading year; - Ye who, by word or deed, - Have made a kind heart bleed, - Come gather here. - - Let sinned against, and sinning, - Forget their strife's beginning, - And join in friendship now: - Be links no longer broken, - Be sweet forgiveness spoken, - Under the Holly Bough. - - Ye who have loved each other, - Sister and friend and brother, - In this fast fading year: - Mother and sire and child, - Young man and maiden mild, - Come gather here; - - And let your hearts grow fonder, - As memory shall ponder - Each past unbroken vow. - Old loves and younger wooing - Are sweet in the renewing, - Under the Holly Bough. - - Ye who have nourished sadness, - Estranged from hope and gladness, - In this fast fading year; - Ye, with o'erburdened mind, - Made aliens from your kind, - Come gather here. - - Let not the useless sorrow - Pursue you night and morrow. - If e'er you hoped, hope now-- - Take heart;--uncloud your faces, - And join in our embraces, - Under the Holly Bough. - - CHARLES MACKAY - - -Christmas Music - -Many elements mix in the Christmas of the present, partly, no doubt, -under the form of vague and obscure sentiment, partly as time-honoured -reminiscences, partly as a portion of our own life. But there is one -phase of poetry which we enjoy more fully than any previous age. That -is music. Music is of all the arts the youngest, and of all can free -herself most readily from symbols. A fine piece of music moves before -us like a living passion, which needs no form or color, no interpreting -associations, to convey its strong but indistinct significance. Each -man there finds his soul revealed to him, and enabled to assume a cast -of feeling in obedience to the changeful sound. In this manner all -our Christmas thoughts and emotions have been gathered up for us by -Handel in his drama of the _Messiah_. To Englishmen it is almost as -well known and necessary as the Bible. But only one who has heard its -pastoral episode performed year after year from childhood in the hushed -cathedral, where pendent lamps or sconces make the gloom of aisle and -choir and airy column half intelligible, can invest this music with -long associations of accumulated awe. To his mind it brings a scene -at midnight of hills clear in the starlight of the East, with white -flocks scattered on the down. The breath of winds that come and go, -the bleating of the sheep, with now and then a tinkling bell, and now -and then the voice of an awakened shepherd, is all that breaks the -deep repose. Overhead shimmer the bright stars, and low to west lies -the moon, not pale and sickly (he dreams) as in our North, but golden, -full, and bathing distant towers and tall aerial palms with floods of -light. Such is a child's vision, begotten by the music of the symphony; -and when he wakes from trance at its low silver close, the dark -cathedral seems glowing with a thousand angel faces, and all the air is -tremulous with angel wings. Then follow the solitary treble voice and -the swift chorus. - - JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS - - -A Christmas Sermon - -To be honest, to be kind--to earn a little and to spend a little less, -to make upon the whole a family happier for his presence, to renounce -when that shall be necessary and not be embittered, to keep a few -friends but those without capitulation--above all, on the same grim -condition, to keep friends with himself--here is a task for all that a -man has of fortitude and delicacy. He has an ambitious soul who would -ask more; he has a hopeful spirit who should look in such an enterprise -to be successful. - -There is indeed one element in human destiny that not blindness itself -can controvert: whatever else we are intended to do, we are not -intended to succeed; failure is the fate allotted. It is so in every -art and study; it is so above all in the continent art of living well. -Here is a pleasant thought for the year's end or for the end of life: -Only self-deception will be satisfied, and there need be no despair for -the despairer. - - ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON in _A Christmas Sermon_ - -By permission of Charles Scribner's Sons - - - - -The Gentlest Art - -_A Choice of Letters by Entertaining Hands_ - -EDITED BY E. V. LUCAS - - -An anthology of letter-writing so human, interesting, and amusing from -first to last, as almost to inspire one to attempt the restoration of -the lost art. - - "There is hardly a letter among them all that one would have left out, - and the book is of such pleasant size and appearance, that one would - not have it added to, either."--_The New York Times._ - - "The author has made his selections with admirable care. We do not - miss a single old favorite. He has given us all that is best in - letter-writing, and the classification under such heads as 'Children - and Grandfathers,' 'The Familiar Manner,' 'The Grand Style,' - 'Humorists and Oddities' is everything that can be desired."--_The - Argonaut._ - - "Letters of news and of gossip, of polite nonsense, of humor and - pathos, of friendship, of quiet reflection, stately letters in the - grand manner, and naïve letters by obscure and ignorant folk." - - _Cloth, $1.25 net_ - - -The Friendly Craft - -EDITED BY ELIZABETH D. HANSCOM - -In this volume the author has done for American letters what Mr. Lucas -did for English in "The Gentlest Art." - - "... An unusual anthology. A collection of American letters, some - of them written in the Colonial period and some of them yesterday; - all of them particularly human; many of them charmingly easy and - conversational, as pleasant, bookish friends talk in a fortunate - hour. The editor of this collection has an unerring taste for - literary quality and a sense of humor which shows itself in prankish - headlines.... It is a great favor to the public to bring together in - just this informal way the delightful letters of our two centuries of - history."--_The Independent._ - - "There should be a copy of this delightful book in the collection of - every lover of that which is choice in literature."--_The New York - Times._ - - _Cloth, $1.25 net_ - - - PUBLISHED BY - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York - - -The Golden Treasury Series - -_Blue 16mos, each $1.00_ - -AMONG THEM ARE: - - Addison, John. Essays. - Aphorisms and Reflections. By T. H. Huxley. - Arnold, Matthew, Poems. - Art of Worldly Wisdom. By B. Gracian. Trans. by J. Jacobs. - Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. By O. W. Holmes. - Bacon, Sir Francis. Essays. Ed. by W. A. Wright. - Ballad Book. Ed. by W. Allingham. - Balladen und Romanzen. Ed. by C. A. Buchheim. - Book of Golden Deeds. By C. M. Yonge. - Book of Golden Thoughts. By H. Attwell. - Book of Worthies. By Charlotte M. Yonge. - Byron, Lord. Poems. Chosen by M. Arnold. - Children's Garland, The. Selected by C. Patmore. - Children's Treasury of Lyrical Poetry. Selected by F. T. Palgrave. - Christian Year, The. By J. Keble, Ed. by Charlotte M. Yonge. - Clough, A. H. Poems by. Ed. by W. Benham. - Cowper, W. Letters of. Ed. by Mrs. Oliphant. - Deutsche Lyrik. Selected by C. A. Buchheim. - Epictetus. Golden Sayings of. Ed. by H. Crossley. - Golden Treasury Psalter. - Golden Treasury of the Best Songs and Lyrics. By F. T. Palgrave. - ---- ---- Second Series. - Fairy Book. Selected by Mrs. D. M. Craik. - House of Atreus, The. By Æschylus. Trans. by E. A. Morshead. - Hydriotaphia, etc. By Sir T. Browne. Ed. by W. A. Greenhill. - Jest Book. Arranged by Mark Lemon. - Keats, John. Poems. Ed. by F. T. Palgrave. - Landor, W. S. Poems. Selected by E. S. Colvin. - Lieder und Gedichte. By H. Heine. - London Lyrics. By F. Locker-Lampson. - Lyre Francaise, La. Arranged with notes by G. Masson. - Lyric Love. An Anthology. Ed. by W. Watson. - Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Thoughts of. By G. H. Rendall. - Mohammed, Speeches and Table Talk. Ed. by S. Lane-Poole. - Moore, Thos. Poems. Selected by C. L. Falkiner. - Old Age; Friendship. By Cicero. Trans. by E. S. Schuckburgh. - Phædrus, Lysis, etc. By Plato. Trans. by J. Wright. - Pilgrim's Progress. By John Bunyan. - Religio Medici. By Sir T. Browne. Ed. by W. A. Greenhill. - Republic. By Plato. Trans. by J. L. Davies & D. J. Vaughan. - Robinson Crusoe. By D. Defoe. Ed. by J. W. Clark. - Rossetti, C. Poems. Chosen by W. M. Rossetti. - Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. By E. Fitzgerald. - Shakespeare, W. Songs and Sonnets. Ed. by F. T. Palgrave. - Shelley, P. B. Poems. Ed. by S. A. Brooke. - Southey, R. Poems. Chosen by E. Dowden. - Steele. R. Essays. Ed. by L. E. Steele. - Tales from Shakespeare. By C. Lamb. - Tennyson, Lord Alfred. - Idylls of the King. - In Memoriam. - Lyrical Poems. Ed. by F. T. Palgrave. - The Princess. - Theocritus, Bion and Moschus. Ed. by A. Lang. - Tom Brown's Schooldays. By T. Hughes. - Trial and Death of Socrates. By Plato. Trans. by A. J. Church. - Wordsworth, W. Poems. Selected by M. Arnold. - - PUBLISHED BY - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - 64-66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK - - -The Ladies' Pageant - -BY E. V. LUCAS - -"An unusual collection of poetry and prose in comment upon the varying -aspects of the feminine form and nature, wherein is set forth for the -delectation of man what great writers from Chaucer to Ruskin have said -about the eternal feminine. The result is a decidedly companionable -volume."--_Town and Country._ - -"To possess this book is to fill your apartment--your lonely farm -parlor or little 'flat' drawing-room in which few sit--with the rustle -of silks and the swish of lawns; to comfort your ear with seemly wit -and musical laughter; and to remind you how sweet an essence ascends -from the womanly heart to the high altar of the Maker of Women."--_The -Chicago Tribune._ - - _Cloth, $1.25 net_ - - -Some Friends of Mine - -BY E. V. LUCAS - -At last the sterner sex is to have its literary dues. In this little -volume Mr. Lucas has essayed to do for men what he did for the heroines -of life and poetry and fiction in 'The Ladies' Pageant.' No other -editor has so deft a hand for work of this character, and this volume -is as rich a fund of amusement and instruction as all the previous ones -of the author have been. - -"Mr. Lucas does not compile. What he does, rather, is to assemble a -quantity of rough material, quaried from the classics, and then to -fashion out of it a fabric stamped with his own personality.... He -makes a little book in which old poems and bits of old prose take on -a new character, through being placed in a relation to one another -determined by Mr. Lucas' peculiar fancy.... He will always be sure of -an appreciative public."--_The New York Tribune._ - - _Now ready_ - - PUBLISHED BY - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York - - -London's Lure - -_An Anthology in Prose and Verse_ - -BY HELEN AND LEWIS MELVILLE - -A selection of what poets and prose writers have said about the great -metropolis--that capital of all Europe which has for most Americans the -closest attraction and the most lasting charm. Curious out-of-the-way -places and equally curious out-of-the-way people are tucked away in -some parts of the book, while elsewhere, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's -Cathedral, and other of the more renowned parts of the city come in -for their share of treatment. Every section of London is here and all -the different viewpoints from which it has been regarded, as well. The -authors selected range from Herrick, Shelley, Lamb, and Hazlitt to -Hood, Dickens, Thackeray, and Wilde. - - _Cloth, $1.25 net_ - - -The Wayfarer in New York - -This book takes up New York in much the same way that London was -discussed in "London's Lure." A few pages from old books of travel -and correspondence show how the city changed in aspect through the -years. 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