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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c2f2072 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66957 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66957) 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. 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- color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - -@media handheld { - .pagenum {visibility: hidden; display: none;} -} - - </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Book of Christmas, by Various</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. 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. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Book of Christmas</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Various</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: George Wharton Edwards</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Contributor: Hamilton W. Mabie</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 16, 2021 [eBook #66957]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>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.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF CHRISTMAS ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<div class="figcentera" id="f1"> -<img src="images/fig1.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c">THE HOLY NIGHT. <span class="pad2"><i>Correggio.</i></span></p> -</div> - -<div class="figcentera"> -<img src="images/fig2.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - - - - - - -<div class="vivaldi"> -<h1> -<i>The -BOOK of<br /> -Christmas</i></h1> - -<p class="c"><i>With an<br /> -Introduction<br /> -by</i><br /> -Hamilton W<br /> -Mabie</p> - -<p class="c"><i>and an<br /> -Accompaniment of<br /> -Drawings by</i><br /> -George Wharton<br /> -<span class="smcap">Edwards</span></p> - -<p class="c"><i>New York<br /> -The Macmillan<br /> -Company<br /> -1909</i> -</p> - -</div> - - -<p class="c p4"> -<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1909,<br /> -By</span> THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="c">Set up and electrotyped. <span class="pad2">Published October, 1909</span></p> - -<p class="c oldeng p6">Norwood Press</p> -<p class="c">J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.<br /> -Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. -</p> -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="intro">INTRODUCTION</h2> -</div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</span> -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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</span> -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;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</span> -there are meditations for the solitary, and there are stories -for the little groups about the fire.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Hamilton W. Mabie</span> -</p> -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</span></p> - -<p class="ph2">CONTENTS</p> -</div> - -<table> - -<tr><td class="tdl"></td> - <td class="tdr"></td> - <td class="tdr"><span class="more">PAGE</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Hamilton W. Mabie</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#intro">v</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcp" colspan="3"><a href="#I">I</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcd" colspan="3">SIGNS OF THE SEASON</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"The Time draws near the Birth of Christ"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Alfred Tennyson</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_4">4</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">An Hue and Cry after Christmas</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Old English Tract</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Doge's Christmas Shooting</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>F. Marion Crawford</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s1">6</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Thursday Processions in Advent</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William S. Walsh</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s2">7</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Glastonbury Thorn</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Alexander F. Chamberlain</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s3">9</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">In the Kitchen</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Old English Ballad</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s4">11</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas in England</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Washington Irving</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s5">12</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas Invitation</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William Barnes</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s6">16</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Christmas Market</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s7">17</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Star of Bethlehem in Holland</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Bow-Bells Annual</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s8">18</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Pickwick Club goes down to Dingley Dell</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Charles Dickens</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s9">19</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Visit from St. Nicholas</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Clement C. Moore</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s10">24</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Crowded Out</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Rosalie M. Jonas</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s11">26</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcp" colspan="3"><a href="#II">II</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcd" colspan="3">HOLIDAY SAINTS AND LORDS</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">My Lord of Misrule</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>T. K. Hervey</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s12">31</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">St. Nicholas</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Collated</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s13">32</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">An Old Saint in a New World</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s14">33</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">St. Thomas</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Collated, W. P. R.</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s15">35</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Kriss Kringle</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Thomas Bailey Aldrich</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s16">36</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Il Santissimo Bambino</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Collated, W. P. R.</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s17">37</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Christ Child</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Elise Traut</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s18">38</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The April Baby is Thankful</td> - <td class="tdr">"<i>Elizabeth</i>"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s19">38</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Good King Wenceslas</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Old English Carol</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s20">41</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Jean Valjean plays the Christmas Saint</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Victor Hugo</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s21">42</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">St. Brandan</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Matthew Arnold</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s22">45</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">St. Stephen's, or Boxing Day</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Collated, W. P. R.</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s23">47</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">St. Basil in Trikkola</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>J. Theodore Bent</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s24">48</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcp" colspan="3"><a href="#III">III</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcd" colspan="3">CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>From "The Golden Legend"</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s25">55</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Folk-lore of Christmas Tide</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Collected by A. F. Chamberlain</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s26">58</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Hunting the Wren</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Quoted by T. K. Hervey</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s27">61</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Presepio</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Hone's Year Book</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s28">64</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Hodening in Kent</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Contributed to The Church Times</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s29">65</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Origin of the Christmas Tree</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William S. Walsh</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s30">66</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Origin of the Christmas Card</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William S. Walsh</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s31">67</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Yule Clog</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>T. K. Hervey</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s32">68</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"Come bring with a Noise"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Robert Herrick</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s33">69</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Shoe or Stocking</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Edith M. Thomas</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s34">70</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Jule-Nissen</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Jacob Riis</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s35">71</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"Lame Needles" in Eubœa</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>J. Theodore Bent</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s36">73</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Who Rides behind the Bells?</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Zona Gale</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s37">76</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Guests at Yule</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Edmund Clarence Stedman</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s38">78</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcp" colspan="3"><a href="#IV">IV</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcd" colspan="3">CHRISTMAS CAROLS</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"I saw Three Ships"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Old English Carol</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s39">83</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"Lordings, listen to Our Lay"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Earliest Existing Carol</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s40">84</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Cherry-Tree Carol</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Old English Carol</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s41">86</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"In Excelsis Gloria"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>From the Harleian MSS.</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s42">87</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Old English Carol</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s43">87</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Golden Carol</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Old English Carol</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s44">89</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdlt">Caput apri refero resonens laudes domino</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>From a Balliol MS. of about 1540</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#s45">90</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"Villagers All, this Frosty Tide"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Kenneth Grahame</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s46">90</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Holly Song</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William Shakespeare</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s47">92</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"Before the Paling of the Stars"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Christina G. Rossetti</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s48">92</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Minstrels played their Christmas Tune</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William Wordsworth</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s49">93</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Carol from the Old French</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Henry W. Longfellow</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s50">95</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"From Far Away we come to you"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Old English Carol</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s51">97</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Christmas Carol</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>James Russell Lowell</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s52">98</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Christmas Carol for Children</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Martin Luther</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s53">99</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcp" colspan="3"><a href="#V">V</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcd" colspan="3">CHRISTMAS DAY</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Unbroken Song</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Henry W. Longfellow</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s54">104</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Scene of Mediæval Christmas</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>John Addington Symonds</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s55">105</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas in Dreamthorp</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Alexander Smith</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s56">111</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">By the Christmas Fire</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Hamilton W. Mabie</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s57">113</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>John Milton</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s58">114</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas Church</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Washington Irving</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s59">119</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Dolly urges Silas Marner to go to Church</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>George Eliot</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s60">124</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Yule in the Old Town</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Jacob Riis</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s61">127</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Mahogany Tree</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William Makepeace Thackeray</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s62">132</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Holly and the Ivy</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Old English Song</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s63">134</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Ballade of Christmas Ghosts</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Andrew Lang</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s64">135</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas Treasures</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Eugene Field</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s65">136</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Wassailer's Song</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Robert Southwell</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s66">138</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcp" colspan="3"><a href="#VI">VI</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcd" colspan="3">CHRISTMAS HYMNS</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Hymn on the Nativity</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Ben Jonson</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s67">143</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">While Shepherds Watched</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Nahum Tate</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s68">144</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">O, Little Town of Bethlehem</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Phillips Brooks</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s69">145</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The First, Best Christmas Night</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Margaret Deland</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s70">146</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">It Came upon the Midnight Clear</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Edmund H. Sears</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s71">147</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Christmas Hymn</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Eugene Field</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s72">149</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Song of the Shepherds</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Edwin Markham</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s73">150</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Christmas Hymn</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Richard Watson Gilder</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s74">152</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Christmas Hymn for Children</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Josephine Daskam Bacon</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s75">153</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Slumber-Songs of the Madonna</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Alfred Noyes</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s76">154</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcp" colspan="3"><a href="#VII">VII</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcd" colspan="3">CHRISTMAS REVELS</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"Make me Merry both More and Less"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Old Balliol MS. of about 1540</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s77">164</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Feast of Saint Stephen in Venice</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>F. Marion Crawford</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s78">165</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Feast of Fools</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William Hone</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s79">167</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Feast of the Ass</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William Hone</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s80">168</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Revel of Sir Hugonin de Guisay</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William S. Walsh</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s81">170</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Revels of the Inns of Court</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>T. K. Hervey</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s82">172</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">King Witlaf's Drinking-Horn</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Henry W. Longfellow</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s83">175</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Old Christmastide</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Sir Walter Scott</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s84">176</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas Games in "Old Wardle's" Kitchen</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Charles Dickens</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s85">179</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A "Mystery" as performed in Mexico</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Bayard Taylor</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s86">183</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcp" colspan="3"><a href="#VIII">VIII</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcd" colspan="3">WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS KIN</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas Night of '62</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William Gordon McCabe</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s87">191</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Merry Christmas in the Tenements</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Jacob Riis</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s88">192</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas at Sea</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Robert Louis Stevenson</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s89">200</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The First Christmas Tree in the Legation Compound, Tokyo</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Mary Crawford Fraser</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#s90">202</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvii">[Pg xvii]</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas in India</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Rudyard Kipling</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s91">208</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Belgian Christmas Eve Procession</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>All the Year Round</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s92">210</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas at the Cape</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>John Runcie</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s93">215</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The "Good Night" in Spain</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Fernan Caballero</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s94">216</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas in Rome</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>John Addington Symonds</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s95">218</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas in Burgundy</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>M. Fertiault</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s96">222</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas in Germany</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Amy Fay</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s97">225</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas Dinner in a Clipper's Fo'c'sle</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Herbert Elliot Hamblen</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s98">227</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas in Jail</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Rolf Boldrewood</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s99">229</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Colonel Carter's Christmas Tree</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>F. Hopkinson Smith</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s100">231</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcp" colspan="3"><a href="#IX">IX</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcd" colspan="3">CHRISTMAS STORIES</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas Roses</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Zona Gale</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s101">241</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Fir Tree</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Hans Christian Andersen</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s102">245</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Christmas Banquet</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Nathaniel Hawthorne</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s103">257</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Christmas Eve in Exile</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Alphonse Daudet</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s104">275</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Rehearsal of the Mummers' Play</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Eden Phillpotts</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s105">280</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcp" colspan="3"><a href="#X">X</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcd" colspan="3">NEW YEAR</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">New Year</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Richard Watson Gilder</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s106">298</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Midnight Mass for the Dying Year</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Henry W. Longfellow</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s107">299</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Death of the Old Year</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Alfred Tennyson</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s108">301</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A New Year's Carol</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Martin Luther</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s109">303</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">New Year's Resolutions</td> - <td class="tdr">"<i>Elizabeth</i>"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s110">303</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Love and Joy come to You</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Old English Carol</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s111">305</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Ring Out, Wild Bells</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Alfred Tennyson</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s112">307</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">New Year's Eve, 1850</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>James Russell Lowell</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s113">308</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Rejoicings upon the New Year's Coming of Age</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Charles Lamb</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#s114">309</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xviii">[Pg xviii]</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">New Year's Rites in the Highlands</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Charles Rogers</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s115">315</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Chinese New Year</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>H. C. Sirr</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s116">316</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">New Year's Gifts in Thessaly</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>J. Theodore Bent</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s117">319</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"Smashing" in the New Year</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Jacob Riis</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s118">322</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">New Year Calls in Old New York</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William S. Walsh</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s119">323</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Sylvester Abend in Davos</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>John Addington Symonds</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s120">325</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcp" colspan="3"><a href="#XI">XI</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcd" colspan="3">TWELFTH NIGHT—EPIPHANY</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"Now have Good Day!"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Old English Carol</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s121">337</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Twelfth Night Superstition</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Barnaby Googe</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s122">338</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Twelfth-Day Table Diversion</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>John Nott</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s123">339</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Blessing of the Waters</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>J. Theodore Bent</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s124">341</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">La Galette du Roi</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>William Hone</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s125">344</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Drawing King and Queen</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Universal Magazine</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s126">345</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">St. Distaff's Day and Plough Monday</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Hone's Year Book</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s127">346</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcp" colspan="3"><a href="#XII">XII</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdcd" colspan="3">THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">"As Little Children in a Darkened Hall"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Charles Henry Crandall</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s128">350</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas Dreams</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Christopher North</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s129">351</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Professor's Christmas Sermon</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Robert Browning</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s130">358</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Awaiting the King</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>F. Marion Crawford</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s131">359</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Elizabeth's Christmas Sermon</td> - <td class="tdr">"<i>Elizabeth</i>"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s132">361</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Nichola's "Reason Why"</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Zona Gale</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s133">362</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Changing Spirit of Christmastide</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Washington Irving</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s134">363</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Prayer for Christmas Peace</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Charles Kingsley</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s135">365</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Under the Holly Bough</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Charles Mackay</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s136">366</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Christmas Music</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>John Addington Symonds</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s137">367</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">A Christmas Sermon</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Robert Louis Stevenson</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#s138">368</a></td></tr> - -</table> - -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xix">[Pg xix]</span></p> - -<p class="ph2">LIST OF PLATES</p> -</div> - - -<table> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Holy Night</td> - <td class="tdlp"><i>Correggio</i></td> - <td class="tdc"></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#f1"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"></td> - <td class="tdl"></td> - <td class="tdc"></td> - <td class="tdr"><span class="more">PAGE</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Holy Night</td> - <td class="tdlp"><i>C. Müller</i></td> - <td class="tdcg"><i>facing</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#f3">16</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Arrival of the Shepherds</td> - <td class="tdlp"><i>Lerolle</i></td> - <td class="tdcg">"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#f4">40</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Bells</td> - <td class="tdlp"><i>Blashfield</i></td> - <td class="tdcg">"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#f5">72</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Madonna</td> - <td class="tdlp"><i>Bellini</i></td> - <td class="tdcg">"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#f6">96</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Virgin adoring the Infant Christ</td> - <td class="tdlp"><i>Correggio</i></td> - <td class="tdcg">"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#f7">120</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Madonna</td> - <td class="tdlp"><i>Murillo</i></td> - <td class="tdcg">"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#f8">152</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Holy Night</td> - <td class="tdlp"><i>Van Ulade</i></td> - <td class="tdcg">"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#f9">184</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Holy Family with the Shepherds</td> - <td class="tdlp"><i>Titian</i></td> - <td class="tdcg">"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#f10">216</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Madonna della Sedia</td> - <td class="tdlp"><i>Raphael</i></td> - <td class="tdcg">"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#f11">272</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Adoration of the Magi</td> - <td class="tdlp"><i>Paolo Veronese</i></td> - <td class="tdcg">"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#f12">304</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">The Adoration of the Magi</td> - <td class="tdlp"><i>Memling</i></td> - <td class="tdcg">"</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#f13">344</a></td></tr> - - - - -</table> - - -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak gesperrt" id="I">I<br /> -SIGNS OF THE SEASON</h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig14.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<ul> -<li>SIGNS OF THE SEASON</li> -<li>An Hue and Cry after Christmas</li> -<li>The Doge's Christmas Shooting</li> -<li>Thursday Processions in Advent</li> -<li>The Glastonbury Thorn</li> -<li>In the Kitchen</li> -<li>Christmas in England</li> -<li>Christmas Invitation</li> -<li>A Christmas Market</li> -<li>The Star of Bethlehem in Holland</li> -<li>The Pickwick Club goes down to Dingley Dell</li> -<li>A Visit from St. Nicholas</li> -<li>Crowded Out</li> -</ul> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig15.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big">T</span>HE time draws near the birth of Christ:</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The moon is hid; the night is still;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The Christmas bells from hill to hill</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Answer each other in the mist.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Four voices of four hamlets round,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">From far and near, on mead and moor,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Swell out and fail, as if a door</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Were shut between me and the sound:</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Each voice four changes on the wind,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That now dilate, and now decrease,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Peace and goodwill, goodwill and peace,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Peace and goodwill, to all mankind.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><span class="smcap">Alfred Tennyson</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge">An Hue and Cry after Christmas <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><i>"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."</i></p></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">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."</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> -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 (<i>good Mrs., Somewhat against this -good time</i>); but Time was transformed, <i>Away, be gone; -here is not for you</i>." 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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">T. K. Hervey</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s1">The Doge's Christmas Shooting <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">F. Marion Crawford</span> in <i>Salve Venetia!</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s2">Thursday Processions in Advent <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span> -their elders elected a boy-bishop and his prebendaries who -remained in office and moreover exercised practically full -episcopal functions until Holy Innocents Day.</p> - -<p>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:—</p> - - -<div class="blockquota"> -<p> -"Three weeks before the day whereon was borne the Lorde of Grace,<br /> -And on the Thursdays boyes and gyrles do runne in every place<br /> -And bounce and beat at every doore, with blowes and lustie snaps<br /> -And crie the Advent of the Lord, not borne as yet perhaps,<br /> -And wishing to the neighbors all, that in the houses dwell,<br /> -A happy year, and everything to spring and prosper well;<br /> -Here have they peares, and plumbs and pence, each man gives willinglie,<br /> -For these three nights are always thought unfortunate to bee,<br /> -Where in they are afrayde of sprites, cankred witches spight,<br /> -And dreadful devils blacke and grim, that then have chiefest might.</p></div> - -<p class="c large"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> </p> - -<div class="blockquota"> -<p> -In these same dayes yong, wanton gyrles that meete for marriage bee,<br /> -Doe search to know the names of them that shall their husbands bee<br /> -Four onyons, five, or eight, they take, and make in every one<br /> -Such names as they do fansie most and best do think upon;<br /> -Thus neere the chimney them they set, and that same onyon than,<br /> -That first doth sproute, doth surely beare the name of their good man." -</p></div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div class="blockquota"> -<p> -"Which if it streight and even be, and have no knots at all,<br /> -A gentle husband then they thinke shall surlie to them fall;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span><br /> -But if it fowle and crooked bee, and knotties here and there,<br /> -A crabbed churlish husband then they earnestly do feare." -</p></div> - -<p>In the last days before Christmas, says Lady Morgan, -Italian <i>pifferari</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Mice, caterpillars, and moles,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Get out, get out of my field; or</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I will burn your blood and bones:</div> -<div class="verse indent3">Trees and shrubs,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Give me bushels of apples.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="r">Condensed from <i>Some Curiosities of Popular Customs</i>.</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s3">The Glastonbury Thorn and other Plant Lore<br /> -of Christmastide <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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."</p> - -<p>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."</p> - -<p>Many plants, trees, and flowers owe their peculiarities -to their connection with the birth or the childhood of -Christ. The <i>Ornithogalum umbellatum</i> 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 <i>Galium -verum</i>, "Our Lady's Bedstraw," receives its name from -the belief that the manger in which the infant Jesus lay -was filled with this plant.</p> - -<p>"The brooms and the chick-peas began to rustle and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Alexander F. Chamberlain</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s4">The Signs of the Season in the Kitchen <img src="images/fig18.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big4">"T</span>HE cooks shall be busied, by day and by night,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In roasting and boiling, for taste and delight,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Their senses in liquor that's happy they'll steep,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Though they be afforded to have little sleep;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">They still are employed for to dress us, in brief,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd-pies, and roast beef.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Although the cold weather doth hunger provoke,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">'Tis a comfort to see how the chimneys do smoke;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Provision is making for beer, ale, and wine,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For all that are willing or ready to dine:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then haste to the kitchen for diet the chief,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd-pies, and roast beef.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"All travellers, as they do pass on their way,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">At gentlemen's halls are invited to stay,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Themselves to refresh and their horses to rest,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Since that he must be old Christmas's guest;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Nay, the poor shall not want, but have for relief</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd-pies, and roast beef."</div> -<div class="verse indent98">From <span class="smcap">Evans'</span> <i>Collection of English Ballads</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s5">Christmas in England <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> -partly lost in the additions and alterations of latter days. -Poetry, however, clings with cherishing fondness about the -rural game and holiday revel, from which it has derived -so many of its themes—as the ivy winds its rich foliage -about the Gothic arch and mouldering tower, gratefully -repaying their support by clasping together their tottering -remains, and, as it were, embalming them in verdure.</p> - -<p>Of all the old festivals, however, that of Christmas -awakens the strongest and most heartfelt associations. -There is a tone of solemn and sacred feeling that blends -with our conviviality, and lifts the spirit to a state of hallowed -and elevated enjoyment. The services of the church -about this season are extremely tender and inspiring. -They dwell on the beautiful story of the origin of our faith, -and the pastoral scenes that accompanied its announcement. -They gradually increase in 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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> -to grow young and loving again among the endearing mementoes -of childhood.</p> - -<p>There is something in the very season of the year that -gives a charm to the festivity of Christmas. At other times -we derive a great portion of our pleasures from the mere -beauties of nature.</p> - -<p class="c xlarge"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> </p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="c xlarge"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> </p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span> -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."</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Washington Irving</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s6">Christmas Invitation <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big1">C</span>OME down to marra night, an' mind</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Don't leave thy fiddle-bag behind.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We'll shiake a lag an' drink a cup</div> -<div class="verse indent0">O' yal to kip wold Chris'mas up.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">An' let thy sister tiake thy yarm,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The wa'k woont do 'er any harm:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ther's noo dirt now to spwile her frock</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Var 'tis a-vroze so hard's a rock.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Ther bent noo stranngers that 'ull come,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But only a vew naighbours: zome</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Vrom Stowe, an' Combe, an' two ar dree</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Vrom uncles up at Rookery.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">An' thee woot vine a ruozy fiace,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">An' pair ov eyes so black as sloos,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The pirtiest oones in al the pliace.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I'm sure I needen tell thee whose.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">We got a back bran', dree girt logs</div> -<div class="verse indent0">So much as dree ov us can car:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We'll put 'em up athirt the dogs,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">An' miake a vier to the bar,</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">An' ev'ry oone wull tell his tiale,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">An' ev'ry oone wull zing his zong,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">An' ev'ry oone wull drink his yal,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To love an' frien'ship al night long.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">We'll snap the tongs, we'll have a bal,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We'll shiake the house, we'll rise the ruf,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We'll romp an' miake the maidens squal,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A catchen o'm at bline-man's buff.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Zoo come to marra night, an' mind</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Don't leave thy fiddle-bag behind.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We'll shiake a lag, an' drink a cup</div> -<div class="verse indent0">O' yal to kip wold Chris'mas up.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><span class="smcap">William Barnes</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<div class="figcentera" id="f3"> -<img src="images/fig3.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c">THE HOLY NIGHT. <span class="pad2"><i>C. Müller.</i></span></p> -</div> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s7">A Christmas Market <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick</span> in <i>Home Life in Germany</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s8">The Star of Bethlehem as Seen in Holland <img src="images/fig19.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<i>Bow-Bells Annual</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s9">The Pickwick Club goes down to keep Christmas<br /> -at Dingley Dell <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p class="c xlarge"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> </p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span> -round, to take a good long stare at the vehicle as it whirls -away.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Charles Dickens</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s10">A Visit from St. Nicholas <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big5">'T</span>WAS the night before Christmas, when all through the house</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The children were nestled all snug in their beds,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Away to the window I flew like a flash,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Gave a lustre of midday to objects below;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When what to my wondering eyes should appear,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With a little old driver, so lively and quick</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!"</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With the sleigh full of toys—and St. Nicholas, too.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As I drew in my head, and turning around,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His eyes, how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He had a broad face and a little round belly</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He was chubby and plump—a right jolly old elf;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And I laughed, when I saw him, in spite of myself.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A wink of his eye and a twist of his head</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And laying his finger aside of his nose,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He sprang in his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And away they all flew like the down of a thistle;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"</div> -<div class="verse indent97"><span class="smcap">Clement C. Moore</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="xlarge" id="s11">Crowded Out <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">N</span><span class="gesperrt">OBODY</span> ain't Christmas shoppin'</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Fur his stockin',</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Nobody ain't cotch no turkkey,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Nobody ain't bake no pie.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Nobody's laid nuthin' by;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Santa Claus don't cut no figger</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Fur his mammy's little nigger.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Seems lak everybody's rushin'</div> -<div class="verse indent0">An' er crushin';</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Crowdin' shops an' jammin' trolleys,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Buyin' shoes an' shirts an' toys</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Fur de white folks' girls an' boys;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But no hobby-horse ain't rockin'</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Fur his little wore-out stockin'.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">He ain't quar'lin, recollec',</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He don't 'spec'</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Nuthin'—it's his not expectin'</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Makes his mammy wish—O Laws!—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Fur er nigger Santy Claus,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Totin' jus' er toy balloon</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Fur his mammy's little coon.</div> -<div class="verse indent96"><span class="smcap">Rosalie M. Jonas</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak gesperrt" id="II">II<br /> -HOLIDAY SAINTS AND LORDS</h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig22.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - - -<ul> -<li>HOLIDAY SAINTS AND LORDS</li> -<li>My Lord of Misrule</li> -<li>St. Nicholas</li> -<li>An Old Saint in a New World</li> -<li>St. Thomas</li> -<li>Kriss Kringle</li> -<li>II Santissimo Bambino</li> -<li>The Christ Child</li> -<li>The April Baby is Thankful</li> -<li>Good King Wenceslas</li> -<li>Jean Valjean plays the Christmas Saint</li> -<li>St. Brandan</li> -<li>St. Stephen's, or Boxing Day</li> -<li>St. Basil in Trikkola</li> -</ul> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig23.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big3">"H</span>ERE comes old Father Christmas,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With sound of fife and drums;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With mistletoe about his brows,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">So merrily he comes!"</div> -<div class="verse indent95"><span class="smcap">Rose Terry Cooke</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s12">My Lord of Misrule <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">"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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> -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."</p> - -<p class="r"> -Quoted by <span class="smcap">T. K. Hervey</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s13">St. Nicholas <img src="images/fig24.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>St. Nicholas is the grand patron of the children of France,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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."</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s14">An Old Saint in a New World <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> -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, <i>Rivington's Gazetteer</i>, -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.</p> - -<p>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"<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> -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).</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer</span><br /> -<span class="r1">From the <i>History of the City of New York</i></span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s15">St. Thomas <img src="images/fig24.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>St. Thomas seems to have remained a doubter to the -end, for in the cathedral of Prato is shown the girdle of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -W. P. R. -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s16">Kriss Kringle <img src="images/fig24.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big6">J</span>UST as the moon was fading</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Amid her misty rings,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And every stocking was stuffed</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With childhood's precious things,</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Old Kriss Kringle looked round,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And saw on the elm-tree bough,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">High-hung, an oriole's nest,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Silent and empty now.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Quite like a stocking," he laughed,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span>"Pinned up there on the tree!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Little I thought the birds</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Expected a present from me!"</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Then old Kriss Kringle, who loves</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A joke as well as the best,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Dropped a handful of flakes</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In the oriole's empty nest.</div> -<div class="verse indent94"><span class="smcap">Thomas Bailey Aldrich</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="up"><i>By permission of the Houghton Mifflin Company</i><br /> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s17">Il Santissimo Bambino <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">"IL SANTISSIMO BAMBINO," of the <i>Ara Cœli</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -W. P. R. -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s18">The Christ Child <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">ELISE Traut relates the legend that on every Christmas -eve the little Christ-child wanders all over the world -bearing on its shoulders a bundle of evergreens. Through -city streets and country lanes, up and down hill, to proudest -castle and lowliest hovel, through cold and storm and sleet -and ice, this holy child travels, to be welcomed or rejected -at the doors at which he pleads for succor. Those who -would invite him and long for his coming set a lighted candle -in the window to guide him on his way hither. They also -believe that he comes to them in the guise of any alms-craving, -wandering person who knocks humbly at their -doors for sustenance, thus testing their benevolence. In -many places the aid rendered the beggar is looked upon as -hospitality shown to Christ.</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s19">The April Baby is Thankful <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>She went out, but came back as though she had forgotten -something.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span></p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p class="r"> -From <i>Elizabeth and her German Garden</i> -</p> - -<div class="figcentera" id="f4"> -<img src="images/fig4.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c">THE ARRIVAL OF THE SHEPHERDS. <span class="pad2"><i>Lerolle.</i></span></p> -</div> - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s20">Good King Wenceslas <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">G</span>OOD King Wenceslas looked out,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On the Feast of Stephen,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When the snow lay round about,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Deep, and crisp, and even:</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Brightly shone the moon that night,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Though the frost was cruel,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When a poor man came in sight,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Gath'ring winter fuel.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Hither, page, and stand by me,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">If thou know'st it, telling,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Yonder peasant, who is he?</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where and what his dwelling?"</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Sire, he lives a good league hence,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Underneath the mountain;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Right against the forest fence,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">By St. Agnes' fountain."</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Bring me flesh, and bring me wine,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Bring me pine logs hither;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Thou and I will see him dine,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">When we bear them thither."</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Page and monarch forth they went,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span>Forth they went together;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Through the rude wind's wild lament,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And the bitter weather.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Sire, the night is darker now,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And the wind blows stronger;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Fails my heart, I know not how,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I can go no longer."</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Mark my footsteps, good my page!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Tread thou in them boldly;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Thou shalt find the winter's rage</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Freeze thy blood less coldly."</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">In his master's steps he trod,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where the snow lay dinted;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Heat was in the very sod</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Which the saint had printed.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Therefore, Christian men, be sure,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Wealth or rank possessing,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ye who now will bless the poor,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Shall yourselves find blessing.</div> -<div class="verse indent98">Version by <span class="smcap">John Mason Neale</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s21">Jean Valjean plays the Christmas Saint <img src="images/fig18.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>In this bed Cosette was sleeping.</p> - -<p>The man approached and gazed down upon her.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>The traveller bent over them.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Hope in a child who has never known anything but -despair is a sweet and touching thing.</p> - -<p>There was nothing in this wooden shoe.</p> - -<p>The stranger fumbled in his waistcoat, bent over and -placed a louis d'or in Cosette's shoe.</p> - -<p>Then he regained his own chamber with the stealthy -tread of a wolf.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Victor Hugo</span> in <i>Les Miserables</i> -</p> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s22">Saint Brandan <img src="images/fig24.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big7">S</span>AINT BRANDAN sails the northern main;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The brotherhoods of saints are glad.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He greets them once, he sails again;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">So late! such storms! The saint is mad!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">He heard, across the howling seas,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Chime convent-bells on wintry nights;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He saw, on spray-swept Hebrides,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Twinkle the monastery-lights;</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But north, still north, Saint Brandan steered;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And now no bells, no convents more!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The hurtling Polar lights are neared,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The sea without a human shore.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">At last (it was the Christmas-night;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Stars shone after a day of storm)</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He sees float past an iceberg white,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And on it—Christ!—a living form.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">That furtive mien, that scowling eye,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of hair that red and tufted fell,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">It is—oh, where shall Brandan fly?—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The traitor Judas, out of hell!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Palsied with terror, Brandan sate;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The moon was bright, the iceberg near.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He hears a voice sigh humbly, "Wait!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">By high permission I am here.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"One moment wait, thou holy man!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">On earth my crime, my death, they knew;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">My name is under all men's ban:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ah! tell them of my respite too.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Tell them, one blessed Christmas-night</div> -<div class="verse indent0">(It was the first after I came,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Breathing self-murder, frenzy, spite,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To rue my guilt in endless flame),—</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"I felt, as I in torment lay</div> -<div class="verse indent0">'Mid the souls plagued by heavenly power,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">An angel touch mine arm, and say,—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">'Go hence, and cool thyself an hour!'</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"'Ah! whence this mercy, Lord?' I said.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">'The leper recollect,' said he,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">'Who asked the passers-by for aid,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In Joppa, and thy charity.'</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Then I remembered how I went,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In Joppa, through the public street,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">One morn when the sirocco spent</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Its storms of dust with burning heat;</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"And in the street a leper sate,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Shivering with fever, naked, old;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sand raked his sores from heel to pate,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The hot wind fevered him fivefold.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"He gazed upon me as I passed,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And murmured, 'Help me, or I die!'<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">To the poor wretch my cloak I cast,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Saw him look eased, and hurried by.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> - -<p class="c xlarge">* <span class="pad2">*</span> <span class="pad2">*</span> <span class="pad2">*</span></p> - -<div class="verse indent0">"Once every year, when carols wake,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">On earth, the Christmas-night's repose,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Arising from the sinner's lake,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I journey to these healing snows.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"I stanch with ice my burning breast,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With silence balm my whirling brain.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">O Brandan! to this hour of rest,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That Joppan leper's ease was pain."</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Tears started to Saint Brandan's eyes;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He bowed his head, he breathed a prayer,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then looked—and lo, the frosty skies!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The iceberg, and no Judas there!</div> -<div class="verse indent93"><span class="smcap">Matthew Arnold</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s23">St. Stephen's, or Boxing Day <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> -was slipped through a hole were hung up to receive contributions -at these rural festivals.</p> - -<p>Aubrey in his "Wiltshire Collections" describes a <i>trouvaille</i> -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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -W. P. R. -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s24">St. Basil in Trikkola <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">From Cæsarea came the holy Basil;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ink and paper in his hands he held.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Cried the crowd who saw him coming,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"Teach us letters, dear St. Basil."</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His rod he left them for instruction—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His rod which buds with verdant leaves,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">On which the partridges sit singing</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the swallows make their nests.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">J. Theodore Bent</span> -</p> - -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak gesperrt" id="III">III<br /> -CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS AND<br /> -BELIEFS</h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig25.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<ul> -<li>CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS</li> -<li>The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ</li> -<li>Folk-lore of Christmas Tide</li> -<li>Hunting the Wren</li> -<li>The Presepio</li> -<li>Hodening in Kent</li> -<li>Origin of the Christmas Tree</li> -<li>Origin of the Christmas Card</li> -<li>The Yule Clog</li> -<li>Come bring with a Noise</li> -<li>Shoe or Stocking</li> -<li>Jule-Nissen</li> -<li>"Lame Needles" in Eubœa</li> -<li>"Who Rides behind the Bells?"</li> -<li>Guests at Yule</li> -</ul> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig26.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big7">S</span>OME sayes, that ever 'gainst that Season comes</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Wherein our Saviours Birth is celebrated,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Bird of Dawning singeth all night long:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And then (they say) no Spirit can walke abroad,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The nights are wholesome, then no Planets strike,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">No Faiery talkes, nor Witch hath power to Charme:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">So hallowed, and so gracious is the time.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><span class="smcap">William Shakespeare</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge" id="s25">The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ <img src="images/fig18.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span> -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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -From <i>The Golden Legend</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s26">Folk-Lore of Christmas Tide <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The same season is most auspicious for certain ceremonies -and practices (transferred to it from the heathen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span> -antiquity) of the peasantry of Europe in relation to -agriculture and allied industries. Among those noted by -Grimm are the following:—</p> - -<p>On Christmas Eve thrash the garden with a flail, with -only your shirt on, and the grass will grow well next -year.</p> - -<p>Tie wet strawbands around the orchard trees on Christmas -Eve and it will make them fruitful.</p> - -<p>On Christmas Eve put a stone on every tree, and they -will bear the more.</p> - -<p>Beat the trees on Christmas night, and they will bear -more fruit.</p> - -<p>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>i.e.</i> "wassail," -the apple-trees and chant verses to them in somewhat -of the primitive fashion.</p> - -<p>Some other curious items of Christmas folk-lore are the -following, current chiefly in Germany.</p> - -<p>If after a Christmas dinner you shake out the tablecloth -over the bare ground under the open sky, crumbwort -will grow on the spot.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>As often as the cock crows on Christmas Eve, the quarter -of corn will be as dear.</p> - -<p>If a dog howls the night before Christmas, it will go -mad within the year.</p> - -<p>If the light is let go out on Christmas Eve, some one in -the house will die.</p> - -<p>When lights are brought in on Christmas Eve, if any one's<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> -shadow has no head, he will die within a year; if half a -head, in the second half-year.</p> - -<p>If a hoop comes off a cask on Christmas Eve, some one -in the house will die that year.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>If you wear something sewed with thread spun on Christmas -Eve, no vermin will stick to you.</p> - -<p>If a shirt be spun, woven, and sewed by a pure, chaste -maiden on Christmas Day, it will be proof against lead or -steel.</p> - -<p>If you are born at sermon-time on Christmas morning, -you can see spirits.</p> - -<p>If you burn elder on Christmas Eve, you will have -revealed to you all the witches and sorcerers of the neighbourhood.</p> - -<p>If you steal hay the night before Christmas, and give -the cattle some, they thrive, and you are not caught in any -future thefts.</p> - -<p>If you steal anything at Christmas without being caught, -you can steal safely for a year.</p> - -<p>If you eat no beans on Christmas Eve, you will become -an ass.</p> - -<p>If you eat a raw egg, fasting, on Christmas morning, -you can carry heavy weights.</p> - -<p>The crumbs saved up on three Christmas Eves are good -to give as physic to one who is disappointed.</p> - -<p>It is unlucky to carry anything forth from the house on -Christmas morning until something has been brought in.</p> - -<p>It is unlucky to give a neighbour a live coal to kindle a -fire with on Christmas morning.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span></p> - -<p>If the fire burns brightly on Christmas morning, it betokens -prosperity during the year; if it smoulders, adversity.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -Collected by <span class="smcap">A. F. Chamberlain</span> -</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap p2">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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<i>The Table-Talk of John Selden</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s27">Hunting the Wren <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span> -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."</p> - -<p>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:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">St. Stephen's-day was caught in the furze,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Although he is little, his family's great.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I pray you, good landlady, give us a treat.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"My box would speak, if it had but a tongue,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And two or three shillings would do it no wrong;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sing holly, sing ivy—sing ivy, sing holly,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A drop just to drink, it would drown melancholy.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"And if you draw it of the best,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I hope, in heaven your soul will rest;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But if you draw it of the small,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">It won't agree with these Wren-boys at all."</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span></p> - -<p>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:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Last Christmas-day, I turned the spit,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I burned my fingers (I feel it yet),</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A cock sparrow flew over the table,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The dish began to fight with the ladle.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"The spit got up like a naked man,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And swore he'd fight with the dripping pan;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The pan got up and cocked his tail,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And swore he'd send them all to jail."</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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:—</p> - -<p>"Saint Stephen! why, what the mischief, I ask you again, -have I to do with Saint Stephen?"</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">T. K. Hervey</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s28">The Presepio <img src="images/fig24.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -From <span class="smcap">Hone's</span> <i>Year Book</i> -</p> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s29">Hodening in Kent <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -A contributor to the <i>Church Times</i>, Jan. 23, 1891 -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s30">Origin of the Christmas Tree <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> -at the beginning of the nineteenth century the fashion -spread all over Germany, and by fifty years later had conquered -Christendom.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">W. S. Walsh</span> in <i>Curiosities of Popular Customs</i><br /> -<span class="r2">(condensed)</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s31">Origin of the Christmas Card <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Not until 1862, however, did the custom obtain any foothold. -Then experiments were made with cards of the size -of an ordinary <i>carte de visite</i>, inscribed simply "A Merry -Christmas" and "A Happy New Year." After that -came to be added robins and holly branches, embossed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> -figures and landscapes. "I have the original designs -before me now," wrote "Luke Limner" (John Leighton) -to the London <i>Publishers' Circular</i>, 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."</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">W. S. Walsh</span> in <i>Curiosities of Popular Customs</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s32">The Yule Clog <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Went roaring up the chimney wide."</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>This log appears to have been considered as sanctifying -the roof-tree, and was probably deemed a protection against<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> -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:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Wash your hands or else the fire</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Will not tend to your desire;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Unwash'd hands, ye maidens, know,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Dead the fire though ye blow."</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">T. K. Hervey</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s33">Come bring with a Noise <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent4"><span class="big2">C</span>OME bring with a noise,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">My merry merry boys,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Christmas log to the firing;</div> -<div class="verse indent4">While my good dame, she</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Bids ye all be free,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And drink to your heart's desiring.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent4">With the last year's brand</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Light the new block, and</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For good success in his spending,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">On your psaltries play,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">That sweet luck may</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Come while the log is a tending.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent4">Drink now the strong beer,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Cut the white loaf here,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The while the meat is a shredding,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">For the rare mince-pies;</div> -<div class="verse indent4">And the plums stand by,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To fill the paste that's a kneading.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><span class="smcap">Robert Herrick</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="xlarge" id="s34">Shoe or Stocking <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big8">I</span>N Holland, children set their shoes,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">This night, outside the door;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">These wooden shoes Knecht Clobes sees,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And fills them from his store.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But here we hang our stockings up</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On handy hook or nail;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And Santa Claus, when all is still,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Will plump them, without fail.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Speak out, you "Sober-sides," speak out,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And let us hear your views;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Between a stocking and a shoe,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">What do you see to choose?</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">One instant pauses Sober-sides,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A little sigh to fetch—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"Well, seems to me a stocking's best,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For wooden shoes won't stretch!"</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><span class="smcap">Edith M. Thomas</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="c1"><i>By permission of Houghton Mifflin Company</i></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s35">Jule-Nissen <img src="images/fig24.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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....</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Jacob Riis</span> in <i>The Old Town</i> -</p> - -<div class="figcentera" id="f5"> -<img src="images/fig5.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c">THE BELLS. <span class="pad2"><i>Blashfield.</i></span></p> -</div> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s36">"Lame Needles" in Eubœa <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> -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....</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>They subsist, like the Amazons of old, on snakes and -lizards, and sometimes on women, if they are lucky enough -to entrap one.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span></p> - -<p>"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.'"</p> - -<p>I am sure this story is believed by the peasants of Eubœa.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">J. Theodore Bent</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s37">Who Rides behind the Bells? <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> -they should first of all hear the news and drink health to -Eunice and Hobart.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"Mer—ry Christmas!" she said.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>"<i>Who</i> goes ridin' behind the sleigh-bells to-night?" she -asked then abruptly.</p> - -<p>"Who rides?" I repeated, puzzled.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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?</p> - -<p>"Good spirits, perhaps, Nichola," Pelleas said, smiling.</p> - -<p>"I do not doubt it," Nichola declared gravely; "that -is not holy either—to doubt."</p> - -<p>"No," we said, "to doubt good spirits is never holy."</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Zona Gale</span> in <i>The Loves of Pelleas and Etarre</i> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s38">Guests at Yule <img src="images/fig24.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">N</span>ÖEL! Nöel!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Thus sounds each Christmas bell</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Across the winter snow.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But what are the little footprints all</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That mark the path from the church-yard wall?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">These are those of the children waked to-night</div> -<div class="verse indent0">From sleep by the Christmas bells and light:</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Ring sweetly, chimes! Soft, soft, my rhymes!</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Their beds are under the snow.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Nöel! Nöel!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Carols each Christmas bell.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">What are the wraiths of mist</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That gather anear the window-pane</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Where the winter frost all day has lain?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">They are soulless elves, who fain would peer</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Within, and laugh at our Christmas cheer:</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Ring fleetly, chimes! Swift, swift, my rhymes!</div> -<div class="verse indent4">They are made of the mocking mist.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Nöel! Nöel!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Cease, cease, each Christmas bell!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Under the holly bough,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Where the happy children throng and shout,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">What shadows seem to flit about?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Is it the mother, then, who died,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ere the greens were sere last Christmastide?</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Hush, falling chimes! Cease, cease, my rhymes!</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The guests are gathered now.</div> -<div class="verse indent95"><span class="smcap">Edmund Clarence Stedman</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="c1"><i>By permission of Houghton Mifflin Company</i></p> - -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span></p> - - -<h2 class="nobreak gesperrt" id="IV">IV<br /> -CHRISTMAS CAROLS</h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig27.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - - - -<ul> -<li>CHRISTMAS CAROLS</li> -<li>"I saw Three Ships"</li> -<li>"Lordings, listen to Our Lay"</li> -<li>The Cherry-Tree Carol</li> -<li>"In Excelsis Gloria"</li> -<li>"God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen"</li> -<li>The Golden Carol</li> -<li>Caput apri refero resonens laudes domino</li> -<li>"Villagers All, this Frosty Tide"</li> -<li>Holly Song</li> -<li>"Before the Paling of the Stars"</li> -<li>The Minstrels played their Christmas Tune</li> -<li>A Carol from the Old French</li> -<li>"From Far Away we come to you"</li> -<li>A Christmas Carol</li> -<li>A Christmas Carol for Children</li> -</ul> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig28.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span></p> - -<p class="c p2">The First Christmas Carol</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe -wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.</p> - - -<p class="c"><i>Chorus</i></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Glory to God in the highest, and on</div> -<div class="verse indent0">earth peace, goodwill toward men.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>St. Luke's Gospel</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s39">I saw Three Ships <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big6">I</span> SAW three ships come sailing in,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day, on Christmas day;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I saw three ships come sailing in,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day in the morning.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And what was in those ships all three,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day, on Christmas day?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And what was in those ships all three,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day in the morning?</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The Virgin Mary and Christ were there,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day, on Christmas day;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Virgin Mary and Christ were there,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day in the morning.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Pray, whither sailed those ships all three,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day, on Christmas day?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Pray, whither sailed those ships all three,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day in the morning?</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">O they sailed into Bethlehem,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day, on Christmas day;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">O they sailed into Bethlehem,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day in the morning.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And all the bells on earth shall ring,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day, on Christmas day;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And all the bells on earth shall ring,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span>On Christmas day in the morning.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day, on Christmas day;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day in the morning.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And all the souls on earth shall sing,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day, on Christmas day;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And all the souls on earth shall sing,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day in the morning.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Then let us all rejoice amain,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day, on Christmas day;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then let us all rejoice amain,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day in the morning.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>Old English Carol</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s40">Lordings, listen to Our Lay <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">L</span>ORDINGS, listen to our lay—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We have come from far away</div> -<div class="verse indent4">To seek Christmas;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In this mansion we are told</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He his yearly feast doth hold:</div> -<div class="verse indent4">'Tis to day!</div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>May joy come from God above,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>To all those who Christmas love.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Lordings, I now tell you true,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Christmas bringeth unto you</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span>Only mirth:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His house he fills with many a dish,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of bread and meat and also fish,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">To grace the day.</div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>May joy come from God above,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>To all those who Christmas love.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Lordings, through our army's band</div> -<div class="verse indent0">They say—who spends with open hand</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Free and fast,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And oft regales his many friends—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">God gives him double what he spends,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">To grace the day.</div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>May joy come from God above,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>To all those who Christmas love.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Lordings, wicked men eschew,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In them never shall you view</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Aught that's good;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Cowards are the rabble rout,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Kick and beat the grumblers out,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">To grace the day.</div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>May joys come from God above,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>To all those who Christmas love.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Lords, by Christmas and the host</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of this mansion hear my toast—</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Drink it well—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Each must drain his cup of wine,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And I the first will toss off mine:</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Thus I advise,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Here then I bid you all <i>Wassail</i>,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Cursed be he who will not say <i>Drinkhail</i>.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>Earliest Existing Carol; Thirteenth Century</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s41">The Cherry-Tree Carol <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big">A</span>S Joseph was a-walking,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">He heard an angel sing,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"This night shall be the birth-time</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of Christ, the heavenly King.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"He neither shall be born</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In housen nor in hall,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Nor in the place of paradise,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">But in an ox's stall.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"He neither shall be clothèd</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In purple nor in pall,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But in the fair white linen</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That usen babies all.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"He neither shall be rockèd</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In silver nor in gold,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But in a wooden manger</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That resteth on the mould."</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">As Joseph was a-walking,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">There did an angel sing,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And Mary's child at midnight</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Was born to be our King.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Then be ye glad, good people,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">This night of all the year,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And light ye up your candles,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For his star it shineth clear.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>Old English</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s42">In Excelsis Gloria <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big9">W</span>HEN Christ was born of Mary free,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In Bethlehem, in that fair citie,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Angels sang there with mirth and glee,</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>In Excelsis Gloria!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Herdsmen beheld these angels bright,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To them appearing with great light,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Who said, "God's Son is born this night,"</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>In Excelsis Gloria!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">This King is come to save mankind,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As in Scripture truths we find,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Therefore this song have we in mind,</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>In Excelsis Gloria!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Then, Lord, for thy great grace,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Grant us the bliss to see thy face,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Where we may sing to thy solace,</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>In Excelsis Gloria!</i></div> -<div class="verse indent93"><i>From the Harleian MSS.</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s43">God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big10">G</span>OD rest you merry, gentlemen,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Let nothing you dismay,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For Jesus Christ, our Saviour,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Was born upon this day;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To save us all from Satan's power,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">When we were gone astray.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>O tidings of comfort and joy,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>For Jesus Christ our Saviour</i></div> -<div class="verse indent3"><i>was born on Christmas Day.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">In Bethlehem in Jewry</div> -<div class="verse indent1">This blessed babe was born,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And laid within a manger</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Upon this blessed morn;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The which His mother Mary</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Nothing did take in scorn.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>O tidings of comfort and joy</i>,—</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">From God, our Heavenly Father,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A blessed Angel came,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And, unto certain shepherds,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Brought tidings of the same;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">How, that in Bethlehem was born</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The Son of God by name.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>O tidings of comfort and joy</i>,—</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> - -<p class="c xlarge">* <span class="pad2">*</span> <span class="pad2">*</span> <span class="pad2">*</span></p> - -<div class="verse indent0">The Shepherds at those tidings,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Rejoicèd much in mind,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And left their flocks a-feeding</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In tempest, storm, and wind,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And went to Bethlehem straightway,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">This blessed Babe to find.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>O tidings of comfort and joy</i>,—</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But when to Bethlehem they came,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where as this Infant lay,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">They found him in a manger</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span>Where oxen feed on hay,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His mother Mary kneeling</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Unto the Lord did pray.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>O tidings of comfort and joy</i>,—</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Now to the Lord sing praises</div> -<div class="verse indent1">All you within this place,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And with true love and brotherhood</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Each other now embrace,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">This holy tide of Christmas</div> -<div class="verse indent1">All others doth deface.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>O tidings of comfort and joy,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>For Jesus Christ our Saviour</i></div> -<div class="verse indent3"><i>was born on Christmas Day.</i></div> -<div class="verse indent92"><i>Old English</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s44">The Golden Carol <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="less">(Of Melchior, Balthazar, and Gaspar, the Three Kings of Cologne)</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big11">W</span>E saw the light shine out a-far,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">On Christmas in the morning,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And straight we knew Christ's Star it was,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Bright beaming in the morning.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then did we fall on bended knee,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">On Christmas in the morning,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And prais'd the Lord, who'd let us see</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His glory at its dawning.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Oh! ever thought be of His Name,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas in the morning,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Who bore for us both grief and shame,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span>Afflictions sharpest scorning.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And may we die (when death shall come),</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas in the morning,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And see in heav'n, our glorious home,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The Star of Christmas morning.</div> -<div class="verse indent92"><i>Old English</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s45">Caput apri refero resonens laudes domino <img src="images/fig19.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big7">T</span>HE boar's head in hands I bring,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With garlands gay and birds singing!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I pray you all help me to sing,</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>Qui estis in convivio</i>!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The boar's head I understand,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Is chief service in all this land,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Wheresoever it may be found,</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>Servitur cum sinapio</i>!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The boar's head I dare well say,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Anon after the twelfth day,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He taketh his leave and goeth away!</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>Exivit tunc de patria!</i></div> -<div class="verse indent98"><i>From a Balliol MS. of about 1540</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s46">Villagers All, this Frosty Tide <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big10">V</span>ILLAGERS all, this frosty tide,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Let your doors swing open wide,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Though wind may follow, and snow beside,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Yet draw us in by your fire to bide;</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span><div class="verse indent1"><i>Joy shall be yours in the morning</i>!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Here we stand in the cold and the sleet,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Blowing fingers and stamping feet,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Come from far away you to greet—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">You by the fire and we in the street—</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Bidding you joy in the morning</i>!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">For ere one half of the night was gone,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sudden a star has led us on,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Raining bliss and benison—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Bliss to-morrow and more anon,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Joy for every morning</i>.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Goodman Joseph toiled through the snow—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Saw a star o'er a stable low;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Mary she might not further go—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Welcome thatch, and litter below!</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Joy was hers in the morning!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And then they heard the angels tell</div> -<div class="verse indent0">'Who were the first to cry Nowell?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Animals all, as it befell,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In the stable where they did dwell!</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Joy shall be theirs in the morning!</i>'</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="up">Quoted in <i>The Wind in the Willows</i>, by <span class="smcap">Kenneth -Grahame</span>.</p> - - -<p><i>By permission of Charles Scribner's Sons</i></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s47">Holly Song <img src="images/fig24.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">B</span>LOW, blow, thou winter winde,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Thou art not so unkinde,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As mans ingratitude</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Thy tooth is not so keene,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Because thou art not seene,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Although thy breath be rude.</div> -<div class="verse indent91"><i>Heigh ho, sing heigh ho, unto the greene holly,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent91">Most frendship is fayning; most Loving, meere folly:</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Then heigh ho, the holly,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>This Life is most jolly.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Freize, freize, thou bitter skie</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That dost not bight so nigh</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As benefitts forgot:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Though thou the waters warpe,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Thy sting is not so sharpe,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As freind remembred not.</div> -<div class="verse indent91"><i>Heigh ho, sing heigh ho, unto the greene holly,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent91">Most frendship is fayning; most Loving, meere folly:</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Then heigh ho, the holly,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>This Life is most jolly.</i></div> -<div class="verse indent93"><span class="smcap">William Shakespeare</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s48">Before the Paling of the Stars <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">B</span>EFORE the paling of the stars,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Before the winter morn,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Before the earliest cockcrow,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Jesus Christ was born:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent4">Born in a stable,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Cradled in a manger,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In the world His hands had made</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Born a stranger.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Priest and King lay fast asleep</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In Jerusalem,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Young and old lay fast asleep</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In crowded Bethlehem:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Saint and Angel, ox and ass,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Kept a watch together</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Before the Christmas daybreak</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In the winter weather.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Jesus on His Mother's breast</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In the stable cold,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Spotless Lamb of God was He,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Shepherd of the fold:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Let us kneel with Mary Maid,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With Joseph bent and hoary,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With Saint and Angel, ox and ass,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To hail the King of Glory.</div> -<div class="verse indent90"><span class="smcap">Christina G. Rossetti</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s49">"The Minstrels played their Christmas Tune"</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big1">T</span>HE minstrels played their Christmas tune</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To-night beneath my cottage eaves;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">While, smitten by a lofty moon,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The encircling laurels, thick with leaves,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Gave back a rich and dazzling sheen,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That overpowered their natural green.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Through hill and valley every breeze</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Had sunk to rest with folded wings:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Keen was the air, but could not freeze,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Nor check the music of the strings;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">So stout and hardy were the band</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That scraped the chords with strenuous hand.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And who but listened?—till was paid</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Respect to every inmate's claim:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The greeting given, the music played,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In honour of each household name,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Duly pronounced with lusty call,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And "merry Christmas" wished to all!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p class="c xlarge">* <span class="pad2">*</span> <span class="pad2">*</span> <span class="pad2">*</span></p> - -<div class="verse indent0">For pleasure hath not ceased to wait</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On these expected annual rounds;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Whether the rich man's sumptuous gate</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Call forth the unelaborate sounds,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Or they are offered at the door</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That guards the lowliest of the poor.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">How touching, when, at midnight, sweep</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Snow-muffled winds, and all is dark,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To hear—and sink again to sleep!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Or, at an earlier call, to mark,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">By blazing fire, the still suspense</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of self-complacent innocence.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The mutual nod,—the grave disguise</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of hearts with gladness brimming o'er;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And some unbidden tears that rise</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span>For names once heard, and heard no more;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Tears brightened by the serenade</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For infant in the cradle laid.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p class="c xlarge">* <span class="pad2">*</span> <span class="pad2">*</span> <span class="pad2">*</span></p> - -<div class="verse indent0">Hail, ancient Manners! sure defence,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where they survive, of wholesome laws;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Remnants of love whose modest sense</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Thus into narrow room withdraws;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Hail, Usages of pristine mould,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And ye that guard them, Mountains old!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p class="c xlarge">* <span class="pad2">*</span> <span class="pad2">*</span> <span class="pad2">*</span></p> - -<div class="verse indent0">Yes, they can make, who fail to find</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Short leisure even in busiest days,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Moments, to cast a look behind,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And profit by those kindly rays</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That through the clouds do sometimes steal,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And all the far-off past reveal.</div> -<div class="verse indent95"><span class="smcap">William Wordsworth</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s50">A Carol from the Old French <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big6">I</span> HEAR along our street</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Pass the minstrel throngs;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Hark! they play so sweet,</div> -<div class="verse indent89">On their hautboys, Christmas songs!</div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Let us by the fire</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Ever higher</i></div> -<div class="verse indent89"><i>Sing them till the night expire!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">In December ring</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Every day the chimes;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Loud the gleemen sing</div> -<div class="verse indent89">In the street their merry rhymes.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Let us by the fire</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Ever higher</i></div> -<div class="verse indent89"><i>Sing them till the night expire!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Shepherds at the grange,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Where the Babe was born,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sang, with many a change,</div> -<div class="verse indent89">Christmas carols until morn.</div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Let us by the fire</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Ever higher</i></div> -<div class="verse indent89"><i>Sing them till the night expire!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">These good people sang</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Songs devout and sweet;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">While the rafters rang,</div> -<div class="verse indent89">There they stood with freezing feet.</div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Let us by the fire</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Ever higher</i></div> -<div class="verse indent89"><i>Sing them till the night expire!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p class="c xlarge">* <span class="pad2">*</span> <span class="pad2">*</span> <span class="pad2">*</span></p> - -<div class="verse indent0">Who by the fireside stands</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Stamps his feet and sings;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But he who blows his hands</div> -<div class="verse indent89">Not so gay a carol brings.</div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Let us by the fire</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Ever higher</i></div> -<div class="verse indent89"><i>Sing them till the night expire!</i></div> -<div class="verse indent88"><span class="smcap">Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</span></div> -<div class="verse indent87"><i>A Paraphrase from the Old French</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<div class="figcentera" id="f6"> -<img src="images/fig6.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c">THE MADONNA. <span class="pad2"><i>Giovanni Bellini.</i></span></p> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s51">From Far Away <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big1">F</span>ROM far away we come to you.</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>The snow in the street, and the wind on the door</i>,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To tell of great tidings, strange and true.</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0">From far away we come to you,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To tell of great tidings, strange and true.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">For as we wandered far and wide,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>The snow in the street, and the wind on the door</i>,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">What hap do you deem there should us betide?</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Under a bent when the night was deep,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>The snow in the street, and the wind on the door</i>,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">There lay three shepherds, tending their sheep.</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"O ye shepherds, what have ye seen,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>The snow in the street, and the wind on the door</i>,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To stay your sorrow and heal your teen?"</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"In an ox stall this night we saw,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>The snow in the street, and the wind on the door</i>,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A Babe and a maid without a flaw.</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"There was an old man there beside;</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>The snow in the street, and the wind on the door</i>,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His hair was white, and his hood was wide.</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"And as we gazed this thing upon,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>The snow in the street, and the wind on the door</i>,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Those twain knelt down to the little one.</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"And a marvellous song we straight did hear,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>The snow in the street, and the wind on the door</i>,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That slew our sorrow and healed our care."</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">News of a fair and a marvellous thing,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>The snow in the street, and the wind on the door</i>,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, we sing.</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.</i></div> -<div class="verse indent92"><i>Old English Carol</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s52">A Christmas Carol <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big12">"W</span>HAT means this glory round our feet,"</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The Magi mused, "more bright than morn?"</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And voices chanted clear and sweet,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">"To-day the Prince of Peace is born!"</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"What means that star," the Shepherds said,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">"That brightens through the rocky glen?"</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And angels, answering overhead,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sang, "Peace on earth, good-will to men!"</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">'Tis eighteen hundred years and more</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Since those sweet oracles were dumb;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We wait for Him, like them of yore;</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span>Alas, He seems so slow to come!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But it was said, in words of gold,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">No time or sorrow e'er shall dim,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That little children might be bold</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In perfect trust to come to Him.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">All round about our feet shall shine</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A light like that the wise men saw,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">If we our loving wills incline</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To that sweet Life which is the Law.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">So shall we learn to understand</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The simple faith of shepherds then,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And, clasping kindly hand in hand,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sing, "Peace on earth, good-will to men!"</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But they who do their souls no wrong,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">But keep at eve the faith of morn,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Shall daily hear the angel-song,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">"To-day the Prince of Peace is born!"</div> -<div class="verse indent95"><span class="smcap">James Russell Lowell</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s53">A Christmas Carol for Children <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">G</span>OOD news from heaven the angels bring,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Glad tidings to the earth they sing:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To us this day a child is given,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To crown us with the joy of heaven.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">This is the Christ, our God and Lord,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Who in all need shall aid afford:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He will Himself our Saviour be,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">From sin and sorrow set us free.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">To us that blessedness He brings,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Which from the Father's bounty springs:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That in the heavenly realm we may</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With Him enjoy eternal day.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">All hail, Thou noble Guest, this morn,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Whose love did not the sinner scorn!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In my distress Thou cam'st to me:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">What thanks shall I return to Thee?</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Were earth a thousand times as fair,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Beset with gold and jewels rare,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">She yet were far too poor to be</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A narrow cradle, Lord, for Thee.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Ah, dearest Jesus, Holy Child!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Within my heart, that it may be</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A quiet chamber kept for Thee.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Praise God upon His heavenly throne,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Who gave to us His only Son:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For this His hosts, on joyful wing,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A blest New Year of mercy sing.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><span class="smcap">Martin Luther</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak gesperrt" id="V">V<br /> -CHRISTMAS DAY</h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig29.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<ul> -<li>CHRISTMAS DAY</li> -<li>The Unbroken Song</li> -<li>A Scene of Mediæval Christmas</li> -<li>Christmas in Dreamthorp</li> -<li>By the Christmas Fire</li> -<li>Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity</li> -<li>Christmas Church</li> -<li>Dolly urges Silas Marner to go to Church</li> -<li>Yule in the Old Town</li> -<li>The Mahogany Tree</li> -<li>The Holly and the Ivy</li> -<li>Ballade of Christmas Ghosts</li> -<li>Christmas Treasures</li> -<li>Wassailer's Song</li> -</ul> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span></p> - - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig30.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge c p2" id="s54">The Unbroken Song</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big6">I</span> HEARD the bells on Christmas Day,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Their old, familiar carols play,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And wild and sweet</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The words repeat</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And thought how, as the day had come,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The belfries of all Christendom</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Had rolled along</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The unbroken song</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</div> -<div class="verse indent86"><span class="smcap">Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s55">A Scene of Mediæval Christmas <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">John Addington Symonds</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s56">Christmas in Dreamthorp <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> -around cheerful fires, to half-pleasant, half-sad remembrances -of the dead and absent.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Alexander Smith</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s57">By the Christmas Fire <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Hamilton W. Mabie</span> in <i>My Study Fire</i><br /> -<span class="r3"><i>By permission of Dodd, Mead & Co.</i></span></p> - - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s58">Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity <img src="images/fig18.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big1">T</span>HIS is the month, and this the happy morn</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Wherein the Son of Heaven's Eternal King,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of wedded maid and virgin mother born,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Our great redemption from above did bring;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For so the holy sages once did sing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">That He our deadly forfeit should release,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And with His Father work us a perpetual peace.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">That glorious Form, that Light unsufferable,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And that far-beaming blaze of Majesty</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Wherewith He, wont at Heaven's high council-table</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To sit the midst of Trinal Unity,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He laid aside; and, here with us to be,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Forsook the courts of everlasting day,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And chose with us a darksome house of mortal clay.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Say, heavenly Muse, shall not thy sacred vein</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Afford a present to the Infant God?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Hast thou no verse, no hymn, or solemn strain</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To welcome Him to this His new abode</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Now while the heaven, by the sun's team untrod,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Hath took no print of the approaching light,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And all the spangled host keep watch in squadrons bright?</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">See how from far, upon the eastern road,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The star-led wizards haste with odours sweet:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">O run, prevent them with thy humble ode</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And lay it lowly at His blessed feet;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Have thou the honour first thy Lord to greet,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And join thy voice unto the Angel quire</div> -<div class="verse indent0">From out His secret altar touched with hallow'd fire.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">The Hymn</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">It was the winter wild</div> -<div class="verse indent0">While the heaven-born Child</div> -<div class="verse indent0">All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Nature in awe to Him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">Had doff'd her gaudy trim,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With her great Master so to sympathize:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">It was no season then for her</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To wanton with the sun, her lusty paramour.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Only with speeches fair</div> -<div class="verse indent0">She woos the gentle air</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To hide her guilty front with innocent snow;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And on her naked shame,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Pollute with sinful blame,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The saintly veil of maiden white to throw;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Confounded, that her Maker's eyes</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Should look so near upon her foul deformities.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But He, her fears to cease,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sent down the meek-eyed Peace;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">She, crown'd with olive green, came softly sliding</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Down through the turning sphere,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His ready harbinger,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With turtle wing the amorous clouds dividing;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And waving wide her myrtle wand,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">She strikes a universal peace through sea and land.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">No war, or battle's sound</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Was heard the world around:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The idle spear and shield were high uphung;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The hooked chariot stood</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Unstain'd with hostile blood;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The trumpet spake not to the armed throng;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And kings sat still with awful eye,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But peaceful was the night</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Wherein the Prince of Light<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">His reign of peace upon the earth began;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The winds, with wonder whist,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Smoothly, the waters kist,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Whispering new joys to the mild ocean—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Who now hath quite forgot to rave,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The stars, with deep amaze,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Stand fix'd in steadfast gaze,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Bending one way their precious influence;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And will not take their flight</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For all the morning light,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Or Lucifer that often warn'd them thence;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But in their glimmering orbs did glow</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Until their Lord Himself bespake, and bid them go.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And though the shady gloom</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Had given day her room,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The sun himself withheld his wonted speed,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And hid his head for shame,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As his inferior flame</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The new-enlightened world no more should need;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He saw a greater Sun appear</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Than his bright throne, or burning axletree could bear.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The shepherds on the lawn</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Or ere the point of dawn</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sate simply chatting in a rustic row;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Full little thought they than</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That the mighty Pan</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Was kindly come to live with them below;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Perhaps their loves, or else their sheep</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Was all that did their silly thoughts so busy keep:—<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">When such music sweet</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Their hearts and ears did greet</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As never was by mortal finger strook—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Divinely-warbled voice</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Answering the stringed noise,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As all their souls in blissful rapture took:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The air, such pleasure loth to lose,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With thousand echoes still prolongs each heavenly close.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p class="c"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span></p> - -<div class="verse indent0">Such music (as 'tis said)</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Before was never made</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But when of old the Sons of Morning sung,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">While the Creator great</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His constellations set</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the well-balanced world on hinges hung;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And cast the dark foundations deep,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And bid the weltering waves their oozy channel keep.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Ring out, ye crystal spheres!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Once bless our human ears,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">If ye have power to touch our senses so;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And let your silver chime</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Move in melodious time;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And let the bass of heaven's deep organ blow;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And with your ninefold harmony</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Make up full consort to the angelic symphony.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">For if such holy song</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Enwrap our fancy long,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Time will run back, and fetch the age of gold;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And speckled Vanity</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Will sicken soon and die,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">And leprous sin will melt from earthly mould;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And Hell itself will pass away,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And leave her dolorous mansions to the peering day.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Yea, Truth and Justice then</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Will down return to men,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Orb'd in a rainbow; and, like glories wearing,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Mercy will sit between</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Throned in celestial sheen,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With radiant feet the tissued clouds down steering;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And Heaven, as at some festival,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Will open wide the gates of her high palace-hall.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p class="c"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span></p> - -<div class="verse indent0">But see! the Virgin blest</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Hath laid her Babe to rest;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Time is, our tedious song should here have ending:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Heaven's youngest-teemed star</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Hath fix'd her polish'd car,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Her sleeping Lord with hand-maid lamp attending:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And all about the courtly stable</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Bright-harnessed Angels sit in order serviceable.</div> -<div class="verse indent85"><span class="smcap">John Milton</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s59">Christmas Church <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Rejoice, our Saviour he was born</div> -<div class="verse indent0">On Christmas Day in the morning.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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; -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span>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.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="f7"> -<img src="images/fig7.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c">THE VIRGIN ADORING THE INFANT CHILD. <span class="pad2"><i>Correggio.</i></span></p> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>As the morning, though frosty, was remarkably fine<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="c xlarge"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Washington Irving</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s60">Dolly urges Silas Marner to go to Church on<br /> -Christmas Day <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">"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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span> -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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="c xlarge"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span> -neat-featured rosy face as a mere dim round, with two dark -spots in it.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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."</p> - -<p>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,—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"God rest you merry, gentlemen,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Let nothing you dismay,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For Jesus Christ our Saviour</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Was born on Christmas-Day."</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Dolly listened with a devout look, glancing at Marner in -some confidence that this strain would help to allure him to -church.</p> - -<p>"That's Christmas music," she said, when Aaron had -ended, and had secured his piece of cake again. "There's<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span> -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?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Silas, absently, "very pretty."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">George Eliot.</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s61">Yule in the Old Town <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Be quick and bright,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Watch fire and light,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Our clock it has struck ten,"</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>it was ordinarily tucked in and asleep. But that night we -lay awake a long time listening to the muffled sound of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span> -about eating between meals: ours was a continuous performance -for two solid weeks.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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....</p> - -<p>When Ansgarius preached the White Christ to the vikings -of the North, so runs the legend of the Christmas-tree, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Jacob Riis</span> in <i>The Old Town</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s62">The Mahogany Tree <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">C</span>HRISTMAS is here;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Winds whistle shrill,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Icy and chill,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Little care we:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Little we fear</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Weather without,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sheltered about</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The mahogany tree.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Once on the boughs,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Birds of rare plume</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sang, in its bloom;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Night-birds are we:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Here we carouse</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Singing, like them,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Perched round the stem</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of the jolly old tree.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Here let us sport,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Boys, as we sit;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Laughter and wit</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Flashing so free.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Life is but short—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When we are gone,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">Let them sing on,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Round the old tree.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Evenings we knew,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Happy as this;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Faces we miss,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Pleasant to see.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Kind hearts and true,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Gentle and just,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Peace to your dust!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We sing round the tree.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Care, like a dun,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Lurks at the gate:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Let the dog wait:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Happy we'll be!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Drink every one;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Pile up the coals,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Fill the red bowls,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Round the old tree!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Drain we the cup.—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Friend, art afraid?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Spirits are laid</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In the Red Sea.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Mantle it up;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Empty it yet;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Let us forget,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Round the old tree.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Sorrows, begone!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Life and its ills,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Duns and their bills,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Bid we to flee.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">Come with the dawn,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Blue-devil sprite,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Leave us to-night,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Round the old tree.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><span class="smcap">William Makepeace Thackeray</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s63">The Holly and the Ivy <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big1">T</span>HE Holly and the Ivy,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Now both are full well grown;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of all the trees that spring in wood,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The Holly bears the crown.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Holly bears a blossom,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As white as lily flow'r;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To be our sweet Saviour,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>To be our sweet Saviour</i>.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The Holly bears a berry,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As red as any blood;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To do poor sinners good.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Holly bears a prickle,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As sharp as any thorn;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas day in the morn,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>On Christmas day in the morn</i>.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The Holly bears a bark,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As bitter as any gall;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span>For to redeem us all.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Holly and the Ivy,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Now both are full well grown;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of all the trees that spring in wood,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The Holly bears the crown,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>The Holly bears the crown</i>.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>Old English Song</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s64">Ballade of Christmas Ghosts <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big1">B</span>ETWEEN the moonlight and the fire,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In winter twilights long ago,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">What ghosts we raised for your desire,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To make your merry blood run slow;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">How old, how grave, how wise we grow,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">No Christmas ghost can make us chill,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Save those that troop in mournful row,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The ghosts we all can raise at will!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The beasts can talk in barn and byre,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Christmas Eve, old legends know,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As year by year the years retire;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">We men fall silent then, I trow;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Such sights hath memory to show,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Such voices from the silence thrill,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Such shapes return with Christmas snow—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The ghosts we all can raise at will.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Oh, children of the village choir,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Your carols on the midnight throw;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Oh, bright across the mist and mire,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Ye ruddy hearths of Christmas, glow!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Beat back the dread, beat down the woe,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span>Let's cheerily descend the hill;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Be welcome all, to come or go,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The ghosts we all can raise at will!</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">Envoy</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Friend, sursum corda, soon and slow</div> -<div class="verse indent1">We part like guests, who've joyed their fill;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Forget them not, nor mourn them so,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The ghosts we all can raise at will.</div> -<div class="verse indent84"><span class="smcap">Andrew Lang</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="up l"><i>By permission of Longmans, Green, & Co., London, and<br /> -Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.</i></p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s65">Christmas Treasures <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big6">I</span> COUNT my treasures o'er with care,—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The little toy my darling knew,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A little sock of faded hue,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A little lock of golden hair.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Long years ago this holy time,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">My little one—my all to me—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sat robed in white upon my knee</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And heard the merry Christmas chime.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Tell me, my little golden-head,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">If Santa Claus should come to-night,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">What shall he bring my baby bright,—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">What treasure for my boy?" I said.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And then he named this little toy,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">While in his round and mournful eyes</div> -<div class="verse indent1">There came a look of sweet surprise,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That spake his quiet, trustful joy.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And as he lisped his evening prayer</div> -<div class="verse indent1">He asked the boon with childish grace,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Then, toddling to the chimney place,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He hung this little stocking there.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">That night, while lengthening shadows crept,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I saw the white-winged angels come</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With singing to our lowly home</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And kiss my darling as he slept.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">They must have heard his little prayer,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For in the morn, with rapturous face,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">He toddled to the chimney-place,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And found this little treasure there.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">They came again one Christmas-tide,—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That angel host, so fair and white!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And singing all that glorious night,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">They lured my darling from my side.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">A little sock, a little toy,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A little lock of golden hair,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The Christmas music on the air,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A watching for my baby boy!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But if again that angel train</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And golden-head come back for me,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To bear me to Eternity,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">My watching will not be in vain!</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="up">From <i>A Little Book of Western Verse</i>; copyright, 1889, by -Eugene Field; published by Charles Scribner's Sons</p> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s66">Wassailer's Song <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big9">W</span>ASSAIL! wassail! all over the town,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Our toast it is white, and our ale it is brown;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Our bowl is made of a maplin tree;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We be good fellows all;—I drink to thee.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Here's to our horse, and to his right ear,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">God send master a happy new year;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A happy new year as e'er he did see,—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Here's to our mare, and to her right eye,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">God send our mistress a good Christmas pie;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A good Christmas pie as e'er I did see,—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Here's to our cow, and to her long tail,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">God send our master us never may fail</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of a cup of good beer: I pray you draw near,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And our jolly wassail it's then you shall hear.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Be here any maids? I suppose here be some;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sure they will not let young men stand on the cold stone!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sing hey O, maids! come trole back the pin,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the fairest maid in the house let us all in.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Come, butler, come, bring us a bowl of the best;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I hope your sould in heaven will rest;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But if you do bring us a bowl of the small,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then down fall butler, and bowl and all.</div> -<div class="verse indent84"><span class="smcap">Robert Southwell</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak gesperrt" id="VI">VI<br /> -CHRISTMAS HYMNS</h2> - -</div> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig31.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<ul> -<li>CHRISTMAS HYMNS</li> -<li>A Hymn on the Nativity</li> -<li>While Shepherds Watched</li> -<li>O, Little Town of Bethlehem</li> -<li>The First, Best Christmas Night</li> -<li>It Came upon the Midnight Clear</li> -<li>A Christmas Hymn</li> -<li>The Song of the Shepherds</li> -<li>A Christmas Hymn</li> -<li>A Christmas Hymn for Children</li> -<li>Slumber-Songs of the Madonna</li> -</ul> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig32.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big13">H</span>ARK! the herald angels sing,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"Glory to the new-born King!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Peace on earth, and mercy mild;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">God and sinners reconciled."</div> -<div class="verse indent83"><span class="smcap">Charles Wesley</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s67">A Hymn on the Nativity <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big6">I</span> SING the birth was born to-night,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The author both of life and light;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The angels so did sound it.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And like the ravished shepherds said,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Who saw the light, and were afraid,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Yet searched, and true they found it.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The Son of God, th' Eternal King,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That did us all salvation bring,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And freed the soul from danger;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He whom the whole world could not take,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Word, which heaven and earth did make,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Was now laid in a manger.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The Father's wisdom willed it so,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Son's obedience knew no No,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Both wills were in one stature;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And as that wisdom had decreed,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Word was now made Flesh indeed,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And took on Him our nature.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">What comfort by Him do we win,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Who made Himself the price of sin,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To make us heirs of Glory!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To see this babe, all innocence,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A martyr born in our defence:</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Can man forget this story?</div> -<div class="verse indent97"><span class="smcap">Ben Jonson</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s68">While Shepherds Watched <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big14">W</span>HILE shepherds watch'd their flocks by night,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">All seated on the ground,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Angel of the Lord came down,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And glory shone around.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Fear not," said he (for mighty dread</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Had seized their troubled mind);</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"Glad tidings of great joy I bring</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To you and all mankind.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"To you in David's town this day</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Is born of David's line</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Saviour, who is Christ the Lord;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And this shall be the sign:</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"The heavenly Babe you there shall find</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To human view display'd,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">All meanly wrapt in swathing-bands,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And in a manger laid."</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Thus spake the seraph; and forthwith</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Appear'd a shining throng</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of angels praising God, and thus</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Address'd their joyful song:</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"All glory be to God on high,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And to the earth be peace;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Good-will henceforth from heaven to men</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Begin, and never cease!"</div> -<div class="verse indent85"><span class="smcap">Nahum Tate</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s69">O, Little Town of Bethlehem <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">O</span>, LITTLE town of Bethlehem,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">How still we see thee lie!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Above thy deep and dreamless sleep</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The silent stars go by;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Yet in thy dark streets shineth</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The everlasting light;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The hopes and fears of all the years</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Are met in thee to-night.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">For Christ is born of Mary;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And gathered all above,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">While mortals sleep, the angels keep</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Their watch of wondering love!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">O, morning stars, together</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Proclaim the holy birth!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And praises sing to God the King,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And peace to men on earth.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">How silently, how silently,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The wondrous gift is given!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">So God imparts to human hearts</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The blessings of His heaven.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">No ear may hear His coming,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">But in this world of sin,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Where meek souls will receive Him still,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The dear Christ enters in.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">O, holy Child of Bethlehem!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Descend to us, we pray!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Cast out our sin, and enter in,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span>Be born to us to-day.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We hear the Christmas angels</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The great, glad tidings tell;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">O, come to us, abide with us,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Our Lord Emmanuel.</div> -<div class="verse indent97"><span class="smcap">Phillips Brooks</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s70">The First, Best Christmas Night <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big">L</span>IKE small curled feathers, white and soft,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The little clouds went by,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Across the moon, and past the stars,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And down the western sky:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In upland pastures, where the grass</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With frosted dew was white,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Like snowy clouds the young sheep lay,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That first, best Christmas night.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The shepherds slept; and, glimmering faint,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With twist of thin, blue smoke,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Only their fire's cracking flames</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The tender silence broke—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Save when a young lamb raised his head,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Or, when the night wind blew,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A nesting bird would softly stir,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where dusky olives grew—</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">With finger on her solemn lip,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Night hushed the shadowy earth,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And only stars and angels saw</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The little Saviour's birth;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then came such flash of silver light</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span>Across the bending skies,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The wondering shepherds woke, and hid</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Their frightened, dazzled eyes!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And all their gentle sleepy flock</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Looked up, then slept again,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Nor knew the light that dimmed the stars</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Brought endless peace to men—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Nor even heard the gracious words</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That down the ages ring—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"The Christ is born! the Lord has come,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Good-will on earth to bring!"</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Then o'er the moonlit, misty fields,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Dumb with the world's great joy,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The shepherds sought the white-walled town,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where lay the baby boy—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And oh, the gladness of the world,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The glory of the skies,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Because the longed-for Christ looked up</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In Mary's happy eyes!</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="up l"> -<span class="smcap">Margaret Deland</span> in <i>The Old Garden and Other Verses</i><br /> -<i>By permission of Houghton Mifflin Company</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s71">It Came upon the Midnight Clear <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big15">I</span>T came upon the midnight clear,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That glorious song of old,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">From angels bending near the earth</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To touch their harps of gold:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Peace to the earth, good-will to men,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span>From heaven's all gracious King.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The world in solemn stillness lay</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To hear the angels sing.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Still through the cloven skies they come,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With peaceful wings unfurled;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And still their heavenly music floats</div> -<div class="verse indent1">O'er all the weary world:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Above its sad and lowly plains</div> -<div class="verse indent1">They bend on hovering wing,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And ever o'er its Babel-sounds</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The blessed angels sing.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Yet with the woes of sin and strife</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The world has suffered long.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Beneath the angel-strain have rolled</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Two thousand years of wrong;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And man at war with man hears not</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The love-song that they bring;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Oh, hush the noise, ye men of strife,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And hear the angels sing.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">O ye beneath life's crushing load,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Whose forms are bending low,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Who toil along the climbing way,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">With painful steps and slow,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Look now! for glad and golden hours</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Come swiftly on the wing:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Oh, rest beside the weary road,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And hear the angels sing.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">For lo! the days are hastening on,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span>By prophet bards foretold,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When with the ever-circling years</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Comes round the age of gold;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When peace shall over all the earth</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Its ancient splendours fling,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the whole world send back the song</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Which now the angels sing.</div> -<div class="verse indent95"><span class="smcap">Edmund Hamilton Sears</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s72">A Christmas Hymn <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big7">S</span>ING, Christmas bells!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Say to the earth this is the morn</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Whereon our Saviour-King is born;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sing to all men,—the bond, the free,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The rich, the poor, the high, the low,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The little child that sports in glee,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The aged folk that tottering go,—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Proclaim the morn</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That Christ is born,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That saveth them and saveth me!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent1">Sing, angel host!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sing of the star that God has placed</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Above the manger in the east;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sing of the glories of the night,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Virgin's sweet humility,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The Babe with kingly robes bedight,—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sing to all men where'er they be</div> -<div class="verse indent1">This Christmas morn;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For Christ is born,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That saveth them and saveth me.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent1">Sing, sons of earth!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">O ransomed seed of Adam, sing!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">God liveth, and we have a king!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The curse is gone, the bond are free,—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">By Bethlehem's star that brightly beamed,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">By all the heavenly signs that be,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We know that Israel is redeemed;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That on this morn</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The Christ is born</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That saveth you and saveth me!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent1">Sing, O my heart!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sing thou in rapture this dear morn</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Whereon the blessed Prince is born!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And as thy songs shall be of love,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">So let my deeds be charity,—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">By the dear Lord that reigns above,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">By Him that died upon the tree,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">By this fair morn</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Whereon is born</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Christ that saveth all and me!</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="up l">From <i>A Little Book of Western Verse</i>; copyright, 1889, by<br /> -Eugene Field; published by Charles Scribner's Sons</p> - - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s73">The Song of the Shepherds <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big15">I</span>T was near the first cock-crowing,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And Orion's wheel was going,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When an angel stood before us and our hearts were sore afraid.</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span>Lo! his face was like the lightning,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">When the walls of heaven are whitening,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And he brought us wondrous tidings of a joy that should not fade.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent1">Then a Splendor shone around us,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In a still field where he found us,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A-watch upon the Shepherd Tower and waiting for the light;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">There where David, as a stripling,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Saw the ewes and lambs go rippling</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Down the little hills and hollows at the falling of the night.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent1">Oh, what tender, sudden faces</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Filled the old familiar places,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The barley-fields, where Ruth of old went gleaning with the birds.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Down the skies the host came swirling,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Like sea-waters white and whirling,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And our hearts were strangely shaken by the wonder of their words.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent1">Haste, O people: all are bidden—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Haste from places high or hidden:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In Mary's Child the Kingdom comes, the heaven in beauty bends!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">He has made all life completer,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">He has made the Plain Way sweeter,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For the stall is His first shelter, and the cattle His first friends.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent1">He has come! the skies are telling:</div> -<div class="verse indent1">He has quit the glorious dwelling;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And first the tidings came to us, the humble shepherd folk.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent1">He has come to field and manger,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And no more is God a Stranger:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He comes as Common Man at home with cart and crookèd yoke.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent1">As the shadow of a cedar</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To a traveler in gray Kedar</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Will be the kingdom of His love, the kingdom without end.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Tongue and ages may disclaim Him,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Yet the Heaven of heavens will name Him</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Lord of prophets, Light of nations, elder Brother, tender Friend.</div> -<div class="verse indent98"><span class="smcap">Edwin Markham</span> in <i>Lincoln and Other Poems</i></div> -<div class="verse indent88"><i>By permission</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s74">A Christmas Hymn <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big1">T</span>ELL me what is this innumerable throng</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Singing in the heavens a loud angelic song?</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>These are they who come with swift and shining feet</i></div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>From round about the throne of God the Lord of Light to greet.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">O, who are these that hasten beneath the starry sky,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As if with joyful tidings that through the world shall fly?</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>The faithful shepherds these, who greatly were afeared</i></div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>When, as they watched their flocks by night, the heavenly host appeared.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Who are these that follow across the hills of night</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A star that westward hurries along the fields of light?</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Three wise men from the east who myrrh and treasure bring</i></div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>To lay them at the feet of him, their Lord and Christ and King.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">What babe new-born is this that in a manger cries?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Near on her bed of pain his happy mother lies.</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>O, see! the air is shaken with white and heavenly wings—</i></div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>This is the Lord of all the earth, this is the King of kings.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Tell me, how may I join in this holy feast</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With all the kneeling world, and I of all the least?</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Fear not, O faithful heart, but bring what most is meet;</i></div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Bring love alone, true love alone, and lay it at his feet.</i></div> -<div class="verse indent99"><span class="smcap">Richard Watson Gilder</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="up l"> -<i>By permission of Houghton Mifflin Company</i> -</p> - -<div class="figcentera" id="f8"> -<img src="images/fig8.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c">THE MADONNA. <span class="pad2"><i>Murillo.</i></span></p> -</div> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s75">A Christmas Hymn for Children <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">O</span>UR bells ring to all the earth,</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>In excelsis gloria!</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0">But none for Thee made chimes of mirth</div> -<div class="verse indent0">On that great morning of Thy birth.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Our coats they lack not silk nor fur,</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>In excelsis gloria!</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0">Not such Thy Blessed Mother's were;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Full simple garments covered Her.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Our churches rise up goodly high,</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>In excelsis gloria!</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0">Low in a stall Thyself did lie,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With hornèd oxen standing by.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Incense we breathe and scent of wine,</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>In excelsis gloria!</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0">Around Thee rose the breath of kine,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Thy only drink Her breast Divine.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">We take us to a happy tree,</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>In excelsis gloria!</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0">The seed was sown that day for Thee</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That blossomed out of Calvary.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Teach us to feed Thy poor with meat,</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>In excelsis gloria!</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0">Who turnest not when we entreat,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Who givest us Thy Bread to eat.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><i>Amen.</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="up l"> -From the volume of <i>Poems</i> by <span class="smcap">Josephine Daskam Bacon</span><br /> - -<i>By permission of Charles Scribner's Sons</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s76">Slumber-Songs of the Madonna <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">Prelude</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">D</span>ANTE saw the great white Rose</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Half unclose;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Dante saw the golden bees</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Gathering from its heart of gold</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sweets untold,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Love's most honeyed harmonies.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Dante saw the threefold bow</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Strangely glow,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Saw the Rainbow Vision rise,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent1">And the Flame that wore the crown</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Bending down</div> -<div class="verse indent0">O'er the flowers of Paradise.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Something yet remained, it seems;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In his dreams</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Dante missed—as angels may</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In their white and burning bliss—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Some small kiss</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Mortals meet with every day.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Italy in splendour faints</div> -<div class="verse indent1">'Neath her saints!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">O, her great Madonnas, too,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Faces calm as any moon</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Glows in June,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Hooded with the night's deep blue!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">What remains? I pass and hear</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Everywhere,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ay, or see in silent eyes</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Just the song she still would sing.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Thus—a-swing</div> -<div class="verse indent0">O'er the cradle where He lies.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="c">I</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Sleep, little baby, I love thee;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sleep, little king, I am bending above thee!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">How should I know what to sing</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Here in my arms as I swing thee to sleep?</div> -<div class="verse indent86">Hushaby low,</div> -<div class="verse indent86">Rockaby so,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">Kings may have wonderful jewels to bring,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Mother has only a kiss for her king!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Why should my singing so make me to weep?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Only I know that I love thee, I love thee,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Love thee, my little one, sleep.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="c">II</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Is it a dream? Ah, yet it seems</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Not the same as other dreams!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">I can but think that angels sang,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">When thou wast born, in the starry sky,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And that their golden harps out-rang</div> -<div class="verse indent1">While the silver clouds went by!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The morning sun shuts out the stars,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Which are much loftier than the sun;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But, could we burst our prison-bars</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And find the Light whence light begun,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The dreams that heralded thy birth</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Were truer than the truths of earth;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And, by that far immortal Gleam,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Soul of my soul, I still would dream!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">A ring of light was round thy head,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The great-eyed oxen nigh thy bed</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Their cold and innocent noses bowed,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Their sweet breath rose like an incense cloud</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In the blurred and mystic lanthorn light!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">About the middle of the night</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The black door blazed like some great star</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With a glory from afar,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">Or like some mighty chrysolite</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Wherein an angel stood with white</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Blinding arrowy bladed wings</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Before the throne of the King of kings;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And, through it, I could dimly see</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A great steed tethered to a tree.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Then, with crimson gems aflame</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Through the door the three kings came,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And the black Ethiop unrolled</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The richly broidered cloth of gold,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And pourèd forth before thee there</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Gold and frankincense and myrrh!</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="c">III</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">See, what a wonderful smile! Does it mean</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That my little one knows of my love?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Was it meant for an angel that passed unseen,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And smiled at us both from above?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Does it mean that he knows of the birds and the flowers</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That are waiting to sweeten his childhood's hours,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the tales I shall tell and the games he will play,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the songs we shall sing and the prayers we shall pray</div> -<div class="verse indent98">In his boyhood's May,</div> -<div class="verse indent98">He and I, one day?</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="c">IV</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">All in the warm blue summer weather</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We shall laugh and love together:</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I shall watch my baby growing,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I shall guide his feet,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent1">When the orange trees are blowing,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the winds are heavy and sweet!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">When the orange orchards whiten</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I shall see his great eyes brighten</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To watch the long-legged camels going</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Up the twisted street,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When the orange trees are blowing,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And the winds are sweet.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>What does it mean? Indeed, it seems</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>A dream! Yet not like other dreams!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">We shall walk in pleasant vales,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Listening to the shepherd's song,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I shall tell him lovely tales</div> -<div class="verse indent1">All day long:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He shall laugh while mother sings</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Tales of fishermen and kings.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">He shall see them come and go</div> -<div class="verse indent1">O'er the wistful sea,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Where rosy oleanders blow</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Round blue Lake Galilee,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Kings with fishers' ragged coats</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And silver nets across their boats</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Dipping through the starry glow,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With crowns for him and me!</div> -<div class="verse indent86">Ah, no;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Crowns for him, not me!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Rockaby so! Indeed, it seems</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>A dream! Yet not like other dreams!</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span></p> - - -<p class="c">V</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Ah, see what a wonderful smile again!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Shall I hide it away in my heart,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To remember one day in a world of pain</div> -<div class="verse indent1">When the years have torn us apart,</div> -<div class="verse indent86">Little babe,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When the years have torn us apart?</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Sleep, my little one, sleep,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Child with the wonderful eyes,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Wild miraculous eyes,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Deep as the skies are deep!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">What star-bright glory of tears</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Waits in you now for the years</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That shall bid you waken and weep?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ah, in that day, could I kiss you to sleep</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then, little lips, little eyes,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Little lips that are lovely and wise,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Little lips that are dreadful and wise!</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="c">VI</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Clenched little hands like crumpled roses,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Dimpled and dear,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Feet like flowers that the dawn uncloses,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">What do I fear?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Little hands, will you ever be clenched in anguish?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">White little limbs, will you droop and languish?</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Nay, what do I hear?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I hear a shouting, far away,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">You shall ride on a kingly palm-strewn way</div> -<div class="verse indent86">Some day!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But when you are crowned with a golden crown</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And throned on a golden throne,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">You'll forget the manger of Bethlehem town</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And your mother that sits alone</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Wondering whether the mighty king</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Remembers a song she used to sing,</div> -<div class="verse indent86">Long ago,—</div> -<div class="verse indent86">"<i>Rockaby so,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Kings may have wonderful jewels to bring,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent0"><i>Mother has only a kiss for her king!</i>"...</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Ah, see what a wonderful smile, once more!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">He opens his great dark eyes!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Little child, little king, nay, hush, it is o'er,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">My fear of those deep twin skies,—</div> -<div class="verse indent86">Little child,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">You are all too dreadful and wise!</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="c">VII</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But now you are mine, all mine,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And your feet can lie in my hand so small,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And your tiny hands in my heart can twine,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And you cannot walk, so you never shall fall,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Or be pierced by the thorns beside the door,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Or the nails that lie upon Joseph's floor;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Through sun and rain, through shadow and shine,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">You are mine, all mine!</div> -<div class="verse indent86"><span class="smcap">Alfred Noyes</span> in <i>The Golden Hynde</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="up l">Copyrighted by Messrs. Blackwood in <i>Forty Singing -Seamen</i></p> - -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak gesperrt" id="VII">VII<br /> -CHRISTMAS REVELS</h2> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig33.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - - -<ul> -<li>CHRISTMAS REVELS</li> -<li>Make me merry both more and less</li> -<li>The Feast of Saint Stephen in Venice</li> -<li>The Feast of Fools</li> -<li>The Feast of the Ass</li> -<li>The Revel of Sir Hugonin de Guisay, 1393</li> -<li>Revels of the Inner Temple—Inns of Court</li> -<li>King Witlaf's Drinking-Horn</li> -<li>Old Christmastide</li> -<li>Christmas Games in "Old Wardle's" Kitchen</li> -<li>A "Mystery" as performed in Mexico</li> -</ul> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig34.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span></p> - - -<div class="poetry-container" id="s77"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><i><span class="big9">M</span>AKE me merry both more and less,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>For now is the time of Christymas!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Let no man come into this hall,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Groom, page, not yet marshall,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But that some sport he bring withal!</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>For now is the time of Christmas!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">If that he say, he cannot sing,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Some other sport then let him bring!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That it may please at this feasting!</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>For now is the time of Christmas!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">If he say he can naught do,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then for my love ask him no mo!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But to the stocks then let him go!</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>For now is the time of Christmas!</i></div> -<div class="verse indent86"><i>From a Balliol MS. of about 1540</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s78">The Feast of Saint Stephen in Venice <img src="images/fig18.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span> -legitimate pride! The greatest misfortune was to have -to share the prize with another."</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">F. Marion Crawford</span> in <i>Salve Venetia!</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s79">The Feast of Fools <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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."</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span> -place of carnival confetti threw filth from a cart upon the -people who crowded to see the procession.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">William Hone</span> in <i>Ancient Mysteries</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s80">The Feast of the Ass <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>This service, as performed in the cathedral at Rouen, -commenced with a procession in which the clergy represented -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span>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.</p> - -<p>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—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Amen! bray, most honour'd Ass,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sated now with grain and grass:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Amen repeat, Amen reply,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And disregard antiquity.</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Hez va! hez va! hez va! hez!</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">William Hone</span> in <i>Ancient Mysteries</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s81">The Revel of Sir Hugonin de Guisay <img src="images/fig18.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">W. S. Walsh</span> in <i>Curiosities of Popular Customs</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s82">Revels of the Inner Temple—Inns of Court <img src="images/fig19.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span> -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:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">'The hunter is Christ that hunts in haist,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The hunds are Peter and Pawle,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The paip is the fox, Rome is the Rox</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That rubbis us on the gall.'"</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">T. K. Hervey</span> -</p> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s83">King Witlaf's Drinking-Horn <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big14">W</span>ITLAF, a king of the Saxons,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Ere yet his last he breathed,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To the merry monks of Croyland</div> -<div class="verse indent1">His drinking-horn bequeathed,—</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">That, whenever they sat at their revels,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And drank from the golden bowl,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">They might remember the donor,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And breathe a prayer for his soul.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">So sat they once at Christmas,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And bade the goblet pass;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In their beards the red wine glistened</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Like dew-drops in the grass.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">They drank to the soul of Witlaf,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">They drank to Christ the Lord,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And to each of the Twelve Apostles,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Who had preached His holy word.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">They drank to the Saints and Martyrs</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Of the dismal days of yore,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And as soon as the horn was empty</div> -<div class="verse indent1">They remembered one Saint more.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And the reader droned from the pulpit,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Like the murmur of many bees,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The legend of good Saint Guthlac,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And Saint Basil's homilies;</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Till the great bells of the convent,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span>From their prison in the tower,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Guthlac and Bartholomæus,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Proclaimed the midnight hour.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And the Yule-log cracked in the chimney</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And the Abbot bowed his head,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the flamelets flapped and flickered</div> -<div class="verse indent1">But the Abbot was stark and dead.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Yet still in his pallid fingers</div> -<div class="verse indent1">He clutched the golden bowl,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In which, like a pearl dissolving,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Had sunk and dissolved his soul.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But not for this their revels</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The jovial monks forbore,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For they cried, "Fill high the goblet!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">We must drink to one Saint more."</div> -<div class="verse indent86"><span class="smcap">Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s84">Old Christmastide <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">H</span>EAP on more wood!—the wind is chill;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But let it whistle as it will,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We'll keep our Christmas merry still.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Each age has deemed the new-born year</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The fittest time for festal cheer.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Even heathen yet, the savage Dane</div> -<div class="verse indent0">At Iol more deep the mead did drain;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">High on the beach his galley drew,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And feasted all his pirate crew;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then in his low and pine-built hall,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Where shields and axes decked the wall,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">They gorged upon the half-dressed steer;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Caroused in seas of sable beer;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">While round, in brutal jest, were thrown</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The half-gnawed rib and marrow-bone,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Or listened all, in grim delight,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">While scalds yelled out the joy of fight,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then forth in frenzy would they hie,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">While wildly loose their red locks fly;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And, dancing round the blazing pile,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">They make such barbarous mirth the while,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As best might to the mind recall</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The boisterous joys of Odin's hall.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And well our Christian sires of old</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Loved when the year its course had rolled,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And brought blithe Christmas back again,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With all his hospitable train.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Domestic and religious rite</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Gave honour to the holy night:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">On Christmas eve the bells were rung;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">On Christmas eve the mass was sung;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That only night, in all the year,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The damsel donned her kirtle sheen;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The hall was dressed with holly green;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Forth to the wood did merry men go,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To gather in the mistletoe;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then opened wide the baron's hall</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To vassal, tenant, serf, and all;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Power laid his rod of rule aside,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And ceremony doffed his pride.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The heir, with roses in his shoes,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That night might village partner choose;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">The lord, underogating, share</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The vulgar game of "post and pair."</div> -<div class="verse indent0">All hailed, with uncontrolled delight,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And general voice, the happy night</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That to the cottage, as the crown,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Brought tidings of salvation down.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The fire, with well-dried logs supplied,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Went roaring up the chimney wide;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The huge hall-table's oaken face,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Scrubbed till it shone, the day to grace,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Bore then upon its massive board</div> -<div class="verse indent0">No mark to part the squire and lord.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then was brought in the lusty brawn</div> -<div class="verse indent0">By old blue-coated serving man;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then the grim boar's head frowned on high,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Crested with bays and rosemary.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Well can the green-garbed ranger tell,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">How, when, and where, the monster fell;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">What dogs before his death he tore,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And all the baiting of the boar.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Wassail round, in good brown bowls,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Garnished with ribbons, blithely trowls.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">There the huge sirloin reeked; hard by</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Plum-porridge stood, and Christmas pie;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Nor failed old Scotland to produce,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">At such high tide, her savoury goose.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then came the merry masquers in,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And carols roared with blithesome din;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">If unmelodious was the song,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">It was a hearty note, and strong,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Who lists may in their mumming see</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Traces of ancient mystery;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">White shirts supplied the masquerade,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And smutted cheeks the vizors made:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But, O! what masquers, richly dight,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Can boast of bosoms half so light!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">England was merry England, when</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Old Christmas brought his sports again.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">'Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A Christmas gambol oft could cheer</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The poor man's heart through half the year.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><span class="smcap">Sir Walter Scott</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s85">Christmas Games in "Old Wardle's" Kitchen <img src="images/fig19.jpg" alt=""/></p> - - - -<p class="c shrunk">[According to annual custom, on Christmas eve, observed<br /> -by old Wardle's forefathers from time immemorial.]</p> - - -<p class="drop-cap">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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span> -and did everything but leave the room, until some of the -less adventurous gentlemen were on the point of desisting, -when they all at once found it useless to resist any longer, -and submitted to be kissed with a good grace. Mr. -Winkle kissed the young lady with the black eyes, and -Mr. Snodgrass kissed Emily; and Mr. Weller, not being -particular about the form of being under the mistletoe, -kissed Emma and the other female servants, just as he -caught them. As to the poor relations, they kissed everybody, -not even excepting the plainer portion of the young-lady -visitors, who, in their excessive confusion, ran right -under the mistletoe, directly it was hung up, without -knowing it! Wardle stood with his back to the fire, -surveying the whole scene with the utmost satisfaction; -and the fat boy took the opportunity of appropriating -to his own use, and summarily devouring, a particularly -fine mince-pie, that had been carefully put by for somebody -else.</p> - -<p>Now the screaming had subsided, and faces were in a -glow and curls in a tangle, and Mr. Pickwick, after kissing -the old lady as before-mentioned, was standing under the -mistletoe, looking with a very pleased countenance on all -that was passing around him, when the young lady with -the black eyes, after a little whispering with the other young -ladies, made a sudden dart forward, and, putting her arm -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.</p> - -<p>It was a pleasant thing to see Mr. Pickwick in the centre -of the group, now pulled this way, and then that, and first -kissed on the chin and then on the nose, and then on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>"This," said Mr. Pickwick, looking round him, "this -is, indeed, comfort."</p> - -<p>"Our invariable custom," replied Mr. Wardle. "Everybody -sits down with us on Christmas eve, as you see them -now—servants and all; and here we wait till the clock -strikes twelve, to usher Christmas in, and wile away the -time with forfeits and old stories. Trundle, my boy, -rake up the fire."</p> - -<p>Up flew the bright sparks in myriads as the logs were -stirred, and the deep red blaze sent forth a rich glow, that -penetrated into the furthest corner of the room, and cast -its cheerful tint on every face.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span></p> - -<p>"Come," said Wardle, "a song—a Christmas song. -I'll give you one, in default of a better."</p> - -<p>"Bravo," said Mr. Pickwick.</p> - -<p>"Fill up," cried Wardle. "It will be two hours good -before you see the bottom of the bowl through the deep -rich colour of the wassail; fill up all round, and now for -the song."</p> - -<p>Thus saying, the merry old gentleman, in a good, round, -sturdy voice, commenced without more ado—</p> - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">A Christmas Carol</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">I care not for Spring; on his fickle wing</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Let the blossoms and buds be borne:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He woos them amain with his treacherous rain,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And he scatters them ere the morn.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">An inconstant elf, he knows not himself,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Or his own changing mind an hour,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He'll smile in your face, and with wry grimace,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He'll wither your youngest flower.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Let the Summer sun to his bright home run,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He shall never be sought by me;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When he's dimmed by a cloud I can laugh aloud,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And care not how sulky he be;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For his darling child is the madness wild</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That sports in fierce fever's train;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And when love is too strong, it don't last long,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As many have found to their pain.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">A mild harvest night, by the tranquil light</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of the modest and gentle moon,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Has a far sweeter sheen for me, I ween,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Than the broad and unblushing noon.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But every leaf awakens my grief,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As it lies beneath the tree;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">So let Autumn air be never so fair,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">It by no means agrees with me.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But my song I troll out, for Christmas stout,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The hearty, the true, and the bold;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A bumper I drain, and with might and main</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Give three cheers for this Christmas old.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We'll usher him in with a merry din</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That shall gladden his joyous heart,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And we'll keep him up while there's bite or sup,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And in fellowship good, we'll part.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">In his fine honest pride, he scorns to hide</div> -<div class="verse indent0">One jot of his hard-weather scars;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">They're no disgrace, for there's much the same trace</div> -<div class="verse indent0">On the cheeks of our bravest tars.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Then again I sing 'till the roof doth ring,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And it echoes from wall to wall—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To the stout old wight, fair welcome to-night,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As the King of the Seasons all!</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Charles Dickens</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s86">A "Mystery" as performed in Mexico <img src="images/fig18.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span>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.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="f9"> -<img src="images/fig9.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c">THE HOLY NIGHT. <span class="pad2"><i>Von Uhde.</i></span></p> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Bayard Taylor</span> in <i>Eldorado</i> -</p> - -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="nobreak gesperrt" id="VIII">VIII<br /> -WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS KIN</h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span></p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig35.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - - - -<ul> -<li>WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS KIN</li> -<li>Christmas</li> -<li>Christmas Night of '62</li> -<li>Merry Christmas in the Tenements</li> -<li>Christmas at Sea</li> -<li>The First Christmas Tree in the Legation Compound, at Tokyo, Japan</li> -<li>Christmas in India</li> -<li>A Belgian Christmas Eve Procession</li> -<li>Christmas at the Cape</li> -<li>The "Good Night" in Spain</li> -<li>Christmas in Rome</li> -<li>Christmas in Burgundy</li> -<li>Christmas in Germany</li> -<li>Christmas Dinner in a Clipper's Fo'c'sle</li> -<li>Christmas in Jail</li> -<li>Colonel Carter's Christmas Tree</li> -</ul> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig36.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span></p> - -<p class="drop-cap p2">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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Robert Louis Stevenson</span> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s87">Christmas Night of '62 <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big">T</span>HE wintry blast goes wailing by,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The snow is falling overhead;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I hear the lonely sentry's tread,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And distant watch-fires light the sky.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Dim forms go flitting through the gloom;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The soldiers cluster round the blaze</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To talk of other Christmas days,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And softly speak of home and home.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">My sabre swinging overhead,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Gleams in the watch-fire's fitful glow,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">While fiercely drives the blinding snow,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And memory leads me to the dead.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">My thoughts go wandering to and fro,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Vibrating 'twixt the Now and Then;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I see the low-browed home agen,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The old hall wreathed with mistletoe.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And sweetly from the far off years</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Comes borne the laughter faint and low,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The voices of the Long Ago!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">My eyes are wet with tender tears.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">I feel agen the mother kiss,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I see agen the glad surprise</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That lighted up the tranquil eyes</div> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span>And brimmed them o'er with tears of bliss,</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">As, rushing from the old hall-door,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">She fondly clasped her wayward boy—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Her face all radiant with the joy</div> -<div class="verse indent0">She felt to see him home once more.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">My sabre swinging on the bough</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Gleams in the watch-fire's fitful glow,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">While fiercely drives the blinding snow</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Aslant upon my saddened brow.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Those cherished faces all are gone!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Asleep within the quiet graves</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Where lies the snow in drifting waves,—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And I am sitting here alone.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">There's not a comrade here to-night</div> -<div class="verse indent1">But knows that loved ones far away</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On bended knees this night will pray:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"God bring our darling from the fight."</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But there are none to wish me back,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For me no yearning prayers arise.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The lips are mute and closed the eyes—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">My home is in the bivouac.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="up l">In the Army of Northern Virginia.</p> - - -<p class="r2 up"> -<span class="smcap">William G. McCabe</span> -</p> - -<p class="up l">Quoted from W. P. Trent's <i>Southern Writers</i></p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s88">Merry Christmas in the Tenements <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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....</p> - -<p class="c xlarge"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span></p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span> -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....</p> - -<p>Down at the foot of the Bowery is the "panhandlers' -beat," where the saloons elbow one another at every step,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span> -breathless. "I am in 'Boundless Love,'" she says, and -makes for the platform, where her arrival restores confidence -and the language.</p> - -<p>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....</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span> -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....</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span> -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....</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span> -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....</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Jacob Riis</span> in <i>Children of the Tenements</i> (abridged) -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s89">Christmas at Sea <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big1">T</span>HE sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The wind was a nor'wester, blowing squally off the sea,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the cliffs and spouting breakers were the only thing a-lee.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">We heard the surf a-roaring before the break of day,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But 'twas only with the peep of light we saw how ill we lay.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We tumbled every hand on deck, instanter, with a shout,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And we gave her the maintops'l, and stood by to go about.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">All day we hauled the frozen sheets and got no further forth;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For very life and nature we tacked from head to head.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide-race roared;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">So's we saw the cliffs and houses, and the breakers running high,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the coast-guard in his garden, with his glass against his eye.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The good red fires were burning bright in every 'longshore home;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For it's just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year)</div> -<div class="verse indent0">This day of our adversity was blessed Christmas morn,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the house above the coast-guard's was the house where I was born.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">O well I saw the pleasant room, the pleasant faces there,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">My mother's silver spectacles, my father's silver hair;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And well I saw the firelight, like a flight of homely elves,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Go dancing round the china-plates that stand upon the shelves.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And well I know the talk they had, the talk that was of me,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And O a wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessed Christmas day!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">They lit the high sea-light, and the dark began to fall.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"All hands to loose top-gallant sails," I heard the captain call.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"By the Lord, she'll never stand it," our first mate, Jackson, cried.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"It's the one way or the other, Mr. Jackson," he replied.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">She staggered to her bearings, but the sails were new and good,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the ship smelt up to windward just as though she understood.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As the winter's day was ending, in the entry of the night,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We cleared the weary headland and passed below the light.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And they heaved a mighty breath, every soul on board but me,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As they saw her nose again pointing handsome out to sea;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But all that I could think of, in the darkness and the cold,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Was just that I was leaving home and my folks were growing old.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><span class="smcap">Robert Louis Stevenson</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="up l"> -<i>By permission of Charles Scribner's Sons</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s90">The First Christmas Tree in the Legation Compound<br /> -at Tokyo, Japan <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span> -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!</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span> -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";<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span> -"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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span> -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").</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Mary Crawford Fraser</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s91">Christmas in India <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">D</span>IM dawn behind the tamarisks—the sky is saffron-yellow—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As the women in the village grind the corn,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the parrots seek the river-side, each calling to his fellow</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That the Day, the staring Eastern Day is born.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Oh the white dust on the highway! Oh the stenches in the byway!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent1">Oh the clammy fog that hovers over earth!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And at Home they're making merry 'neath the white and scarlet berry—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">What part have India's exiles in their mirth?</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Full day behind the tamarisks—the sky is blue and staring—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As the cattle crawl afield beneath the yoke,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And they bear One o'er the field-path, who is past all hope or caring</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To the ghat below the curling wreaths of smoke.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Call on Rama, going slowly, as ye bear a brother lowly—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Call on Rama—he may hear, perhaps, your voice!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With our hymn-books and our Psalters we appeal to other altars</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And to-day we bid "good Christian men rejoice!"</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">High noon behind the tamarisks—the sun is hot above us—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As at Home the Christmas Day is breaking wan.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">They will drink our healths at dinner—those who tell us how they love us,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And forget us till another year be gone!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Oh the toil that needs no breaking! Oh the Heimweh, ceaseless, aching!</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Oh the black dividing Sea and alien Plain!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Youth was cheap—wherefore we sold it. Gold was good—we hoped to hold it,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And to-day we know the fulness of our gain.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Gray dusk behind the tamarisks—the parrots fly together—</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span>As the sun is sinking slowly over Home;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And his last ray seems to mock us shackled in a lifelong tether</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That drags us back howe'er so far we roam.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Hard her service, poor her payment—she in ancient, tattered raiment—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">India, she the grim Stepmother of our kind.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">If the year of life be lent her, if her temple's shrine we enter,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The door is shut—we may not look behind.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Black night behind the tamarisks—the owls begin their chorus—</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As the conches from the temples cream and bray.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With the fruitless years behind us, and the hopeless years before us,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Let us honor, O my brothers, Christmas Day!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Call a truce, then, to our labors—let us feast with friends and neighbors,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And be merry as the custom of our caste;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For if "faint and forced the laughter," and if sadness follow after,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">We are richer by one mocking Christmas past.</div> -<div class="verse indent92"><span class="smcap">Rudyard Kipling</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="up l"> -<i>By permission of the author and Messrs. Methuen & Co.</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s92">A Belgian Christmas Eve Procession <img src="images/fig18.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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?</p> - -<p>... 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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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....</p> - -<p>The spectators, I noticed, behaved very variously. -There were <i>esprit forts</i> 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.</p> - -<p>Some rivalry there may possibly have been between the -different parishes which had sent forth their boys and girls,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>in partibus -infidelium</i>—and therefore I conjecture him to be a dean. -He is at any rate splendid as jewels, and gold embroideries,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -From <i>All the Year Round</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s93">Christmas at the Cape <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big10">Y</span>OUR Christmas comes with holly leaves</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And snow about your doors and eaves;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Our lighted windows, open wide,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Let in our summer Christmas tide;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And where the drifting moths may go—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Behold our tiny flakes of snow;</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent4">But carol, carol in the cold;</div> -<div class="verse indent3">And carol, carol as ye may,—</div> -<div class="verse indent4">We sing the merry songs of old</div> -<div class="verse indent3"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span>As merrily on Christmas Day.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Your hills are wrapped in rainy cloud,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Your sea in anger roars aloud;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But here our hills are veiled with haze</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In harmonies of blues and grays;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The waters of two oceans meet</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With friendly murmurs by our feet;</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent4">But carol, carol, Christmas Waits,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">And carol, carol, as ye may,—</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The Crickets by our doors and gates</div> -<div class="verse indent3">Sing in the grace of Christmas Day.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The rain and sunshine of the Cape</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Lie folded in the ripening grape,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And Stellenbosch and Drakenstein,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">With bounteous orchard, field of vine,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And every spot that we pass by—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Lie burnished 'neath our Christmas sky;</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent4">So carol, carol in your snow</div> -<div class="verse indent3">And carol, carol as ye may,—</div> -<div class="verse indent4">We carol 'mid our blooms ablow,</div> -<div class="verse indent3">The grace of Summer's Christmas Day.</div> -<div class="verse indent92"><span class="smcap">John Runcie</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<div class="figcentera" id="f10"> -<img src="images/fig10.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c">THE HOLY FAMILY WITH THE SHEPHERDS. <span class="pad2"><i>Titian.</i></span></p> -</div> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s94">The "Good Night" in Spain <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<p class="up l"> -From <i>Holy Night</i>, by <span class="smcap">Fernan Caballero</span>. Translated<br /> -by Katharine Lee Bates</p> - - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s95">Christmas in Rome <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span> -a foreign shore? These questions grew upon me as I -stood one Advent afternoon beneath the Dome of Florence....</p> - -<p>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?</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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. -<i>Contadini</i> 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 <i>monsignori</i>, 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span> -figure of the Pope, the multitude, made up an overpowering -scene.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">John Addington Symonds</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s96">Christmas in Burgundy <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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 <i>Little Jesus</i>. -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,—<i>non qualitas, -sed quantitas</i>; 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span> -and thanks him, and, moreover, gives him in small -coin the price of the shrill notes with which he has enlivened -the evening entertainments.</p> - -<p>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 -<i>Suche</i> (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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span> -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, <i>Rossignon</i>. 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. <i>Rossignon</i> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>In the Glossary, the <i>Suche</i>, or Yule-log, is thus defined:—</p> - -<p>"This is a huge log, which is placed on the fire on -Christmas Eve, and which in Burgundy is called, on this -account, <i>lai Suche de Noël</i>. 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."</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">M. Fertiault.</span> Translated by Henry W. Longfellow -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s97">Christmas in Germany <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Berlin</span>, <i>December</i> 25, 1871<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Amy Fay</span> in <i>Music-Study in Germany</i>. -</p> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s98">Christmas Dinner in a Clipper's Fo'c'sle <img src="images/fig18.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>"Nothing," said Russell.</p> - -<p>"Well," said the schooner skipper, "what are ye hove to -for?"</p> - -<p>Russell told him he wanted to get a "sight" to find his -position.</p> - -<p>"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, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span></p> - -<p>"Who hollered to open that door?" "No." "But -what bloody fool opened it?"</p> - -<p>So and so.</p> - -<p>"You're a liar!"</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Herbert Elliott Hamblen</span> in <i>On Many Seas</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s99">Christmas in Jail <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">"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."</p> - -<p>"All right; why don't you make it a few more while you're -about it?"</p> - -<p>"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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span> -other day, sentenced me to be a dead man in a couple of -months. But I was young then.</p> - -<p class="c xlarge"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Rolf Boldrewood</span> in <i>Robbery under Arms</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s100">Colonel Carter's Christmas Tree <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span> -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,<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> -winking at him with it once or twice when he was about to -commit some foolishness, and so the happy feast went on.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> "Jim" is the pickaninny in buttons, who, as Chad says, "looks -like he's busted out with brass measles."</p> - -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span> -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!"</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span> -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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span> -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!"</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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:—</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>"Now!"</p> - -<p>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:—</p> - -<p>"Many years together, Chad,—many years, old man."</p> - -<p>Chad's face broke into a smile as he pressed the Colonel's -hand.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span> -cross his features which gradually settled into one of -profound disappointment.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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'.</p> - -<p>"This little yaller candle is Jim's."</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">F. Hopkinson Smith</span> in <i>Colonel Carter's Christmas</i> -</p> - -<p class="up l"><i>Copyright, 1903, by Charles Scribner's Sons</i></p> -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak gesperrt" id="IX">IX<br /> -CHRISTMAS STORIES</h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig37.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<ul> -<li>CHRISTMAS STORIES</li> -<li>Christmas Roses</li> -<li>The Fir Tree</li> -<li>The Christmas Banquet</li> -<li>A Christmas Eve in Exile</li> -<li>The Rehearsal of the Mummers' Play</li> -</ul> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig38.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquotb"> -<p class="drop-cap p2">"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,</p> - -<p class="c"> -<span class="smcap">God Bless Us,<br /> -Every One</span>."</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Charles Dickens</span> -</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s101">Christmas Roses <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>"For that matter," Pelleas said, "every day is a loving -cup, only some of us see only one of its handles: Our own."</p> - -<p>And after a time:—</p> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>And at thought of gifts I said, on Christmas eve of all -times, what had been for some time in my heart:—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span></p> - -<p>"Pelleas, we ought—we really ought, you know, to -make a new will."</p> - -<p>The word casts a veritable shadow on the page as I -write it. Pelleas, conscious of the same shadow, moved -and frowned.</p> - -<p>"But why, Etarre?" he asked; "I had an uncle who -lived to be ninety."</p> - -<p>"So will you," I said, "and still—"</p> - -<p>"He began translating Theocritus at ninety," Pelleas -continued convincingly.</p> - -<p>"I'll venture he had made his will by then, though," said I.</p> - -<p>"Is that any reason why I should make mine?" Pelleas -demanded. "I <i>never</i> did the things my family did."</p> - -<p>"Like living until ninety?" I murmured.</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<p>Pelleas can do more than this: He can laugh at his own -unreason. And when he has done so:—</p> - -<p>"Ah, well, I know we ought," he admitted, "but I do -so object to the literary style of wills."</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>Pelleas meditated for a moment and then laughed out.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>As,</p> - -<p class="l"> -<span class="smcap">Mrs. Lawrence Knight</span>,<br /> -<span class="pad5">Little Rosemont,</span><br /> -<span class="pad6">L. I.</span> -</p> - -<p class="l">I wish you to have my mother's pearls and her mahogany -and my Samarcand rug and my Langhorne Plutarch and -a kiss.</p> - -<p class="r up"> -<span class="smcap">Aunt Etarre</span> -</p> - -<p>and</p> - -<p class="l"> -<span class="smcap">Mr. Eric Charters</span>,<br /> -<span class="pad5">To His Club.</span> -</p> - -<p class="l">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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Uncle Pelleas</span> -</p> - -<p>And so on, with the witnesses' names properly in the -corners.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span></p> - -<p>"Perfect," said I with enthusiasm. "O Pelleas, let us -get a bill through to this effect."</p> - -<p>"But we may live to be only ninety, you know," he -reminded me.</p> - -<p>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,</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>So it ought, in spite of its dress of diction, rather like the -motley.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"It makes its will every day," said I.</p> - -<p>"Even so," Pelleas contended, "it ought to die rich if -it's anything of a soul."</p> - -<p>And that is true enough.</p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p>Why not, indeed?</p> - -<p>"I think that would be mine to give," Pelleas said reflectively;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span> -"and what would yours be, Etarre?" he -asked.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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: -<i>Helping is why</i>.'"</p> - -<p>"But you—you, Etarre," Pelleas persisted; "what would -the real You will to others, in this mortuary telegram?"</p> - -<p>And as I looked at him I knew.</p> - -<p>"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.'"</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"I wanted you to say that," said Pelleas.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Zona Gale</span> in <i>The Loves of Pelleas and Etarre</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s102">The Fir Tree <img src="images/fig24.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The wood cutters came in the autumn and felled some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span> -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?</p> - -<p>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?"</p> - -<p>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!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, that I, too, were tall enough to sail upon the sea! -Tell me what it is, this sea, and what it looks like."</p> - -<p>"Thank you, it would take too long, a great deal!" -said the Stork, and away he stalked.</p> - -<p>"Rejoice in thy youth!" said the Sunbeams; "rejoice -in thy luxuriant youth, in the fresh life that is within thee!"</p> - -<p>And the Wind kissed the Tree, and the Dew wept tears -over him, but the Fir Tree understood them not.</p> - -<p>When Christmas approached, many quite young trees -were felled—trees which were some of them not so tall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p>"And then?" asked the Fir Tree, trembling in every -bough; "and then? what happened then?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, we saw no more. That was beautiful, beautiful -beyond compare!"</p> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p>"Rejoice in our love!" said the Air and the Sunshine. -"Rejoice in thy youth and thy freedom!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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!"</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Upon some branches they hung little nets cut out of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span> -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."</p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span> -shouted till the walls re-echoed, they danced round the -Tree, one present after another was torn down.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>In the morning the maids came in.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>"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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span> -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."</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>"It is horribly cold!" said the little Mice. "Otherwise -it is very comfortable here. Don't you think so, you -old Fir Tree?"</p> - -<p>"I am not old," said the Fir Tree; "there are many -who are much older than I am."</p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p>"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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span> -told them about the Christmas eve, when he had been -decked out with cakes and candles.</p> - -<p>"Oh!" cried the little Mice, "how happy you have -been, you old Fir Tree!"</p> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>"Do you know only that one story?" asked the Rats.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"It is a miserable story! Do you know none about -pork and tallow?—no store-room story?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span></p> - -<p>"No," said the Tree.</p> - -<p>"Well, then, we have heard enough of it!" returned the -Rats, and they went their ways.</p> - -<p>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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>Some merry children were playing in the court, the same -who at Christmas time had danced round the Tree. One<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span> -of the youngest now perceived the gold star, and ran to -tear it off.</p> - -<p>"Look at it, still fastened to the ugly old Christmas -Tree!" cried he, trampling upon the boughs till they broke -under his boots.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"Past, all past!" said the poor Tree. "Had I but -been happy, as I might have been! Past, all past!"</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Hans Christian Andersen</span> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s103">The Christmas Banquet <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>"What means that wreath?" asked several of the -company, while viewing the decorations of the table.</p> - -<p>They alluded to a wreath of cypress, which was held -on high by a skeleton arm, protruding from within the -black mantle.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span> -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....</p> - -<p>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!"</p> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span></p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"Cold, cold, cold!" muttered the idiot.</p> - -<p>The young man shivered too, and smiled.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="c xlarge"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span></p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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!"</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span> -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....</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span></p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>"Just now," remarked the trembling old woman, "I -seemed to see beyond the outside. And then my everlasting -tremor passed away!"</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span> -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!"</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>And then the company departed.</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>One was formerly a clergyman, enthusiastic in his profession, -and apparently of the genuine dynasty of those old<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span> -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....</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span>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....</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="f11"> -<img src="images/fig11.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c">MADONNA DELLA SEDIA. <span class="pad2"><i>Raphael.</i></span></p> -</div> - -<p class="p2">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?"</p> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p>"I know of but one misfortune," answered Gervayse -Hastings, quietly, "and that is my own."</p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p>"You will not understand it," replied Gervayse Hastings,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span> -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."</p> - -<p>"And how is it with your views of a future life?" inquired -the speculative clergyman.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Nathaniel Hawthorne</span> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s104">A Christmas Eve in Exile <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span> -Fatherland? But no. Every one knows well that old -Cahn has no Fatherland. <i>His</i> 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:—</p> - -<p>"Haf you anydings to zell?"</p> - -<p>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....</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span> -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 "<i>aioli</i>,"<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> the snails, and the pretty ceremony of -the Yule log, which the grandfather carries about the house, -and anoints with steaming wine.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> A mayonnaise sauce richly flavored with garlic.</p> - -</div> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p>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?</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"Art thou asleep, Bernadou?"....</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span></p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>"Come! Which one do you want? 'The Host'? -'The Three Kings'? or 'Saint Joseph Said to Me'?"</p> - -<p>"No. I love better 'The Shepherds.' The one we always -sang at home."</p> - -<p>"'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:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Joseph leur dit: Allons I soyez bien sages,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Tournez-vous-en et faites bon voyage.</div> -<div class="verse indent98">Bergers,</div> -<div class="verse indent87">Prenez votre congé, ..."</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Salvette understands. Then, all in tears, and a little -intoxicated with the feast and with so great a sorrow, he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span> -takes up again in full voice, in the silence of the ward, the -joyous refrain of Provence:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent82">"Shepherds,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Take your leave!"</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Alphonse Daudet</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s105">The Rehearsal of the Mummers' Play <img src="images/fig18.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Open your doors and let me in,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I hope your favours I shall win.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Whether I rise or whether I fall,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I'll do my best to please you all!"</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span></p> - -<p>Mr. Waite spoke jerkily, and his voice proved a little out -of control, but everybody congratulated him.</p> - -<p>"How he rolls his eyes to be sure," said Vivian Baskerville. -"A very daps of a Turk, for sartain."</p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>Timothy, who enjoyed the praise of his friends, liked -this censure less.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>Nathan put his part into his pocket, marched on to the -imaginary stage and bowed. Everybody cheered.</p> - -<p>"You needn't bow," explained Dennis; but the innkeeper -differed from him.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid I must, your reverence. When I appear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span> -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."</p> - -<p>"All right, push on," said Dennis.</p> - -<p>"We must really be quicker," declared Miss Masterman. -"Half an hour has gone, and we've hardly started."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>Having thus explained his theory of histrionics, Mr. -Baskerville started, and with immense and original emphasis, -and sudden actions and gestures, introduced himself.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Here come I, the dear old Father Christmas.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Welcome or welcome not,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I hope old Father Christmas</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Will never be forgot.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A room—make room here, gallant boys.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And give us room to rhyme...."</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Nathan broke off to explain his reading of the part.</p> - -<p>"When I say 'make room' I fly all round the stage, as if I -was pushing the people back to give me room."</p> - -<p>He finished his speech, and panted and mopped his head.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span></p> - -<p>"That's acting, and what d'you think of it?" he asked.</p> - -<p>They all applauded vigorously excepting Mr. Gollop, who -now prepared to take his part.</p> - -<p>Nathan then left the stage and the vicar called him back.</p> - -<p>"You don't go off," he explained. "You stop to welcome -the King of Egypt."</p> - -<p>"Beg pardon," answered the innkeeper. "But of course, -so it is. I'll take my stand here."</p> - -<p>"You bow to the King of Egypt when he comes on," -declared Gollop. "He humbly bows to me, don't he, -reverend Masterman?"</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"I'll bow to you if you bow to me, Tom," said Mr. -Baskerville. "That's only right."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"Kings do bow," declared Dennis. "You must bow to -Father Christmas, Gollop."</p> - -<p>"He must bow first, then," argued the parish clerk.</p> - -<p>"Damn the man! turn him out and let somebody else -do it!" cried Head.</p> - -<p>"Let neither of 'em bow," suggested Mrs. Hacker -suddenly. "With all this here bowing and scraping, us<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span> -shan't be done afore midnight; and I don't come in the -play till the end of all things as 'tis."</p> - -<p>"You'd better decide, your reverence," suggested -Vivian. "Your word's law. I say let 'em bow simultaneous—how -would that serve?"</p> - -<p>"Excellent!" declared Dennis. "You'll bow together, -please. Now, Mr. Gollop."</p> - -<p>Thomas marched on with amazing gait, designed to be -regal.</p> - -<p>"They'll all laugh if you do it like that, Tom," complained -Mr. Voysey.</p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Dennis. "In reason—in reason, Jack. -But acting is one thing, and playing the fool is another."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Lord! I thought they was the same," declared -Vivian Baskerville. "Because if I've got to act the giant——"</p> - -<p>"Order! order!" cried the clergyman. "We <i>must</i> get -on. Don't be annoyed, Mr. Baskerville, I quite see your -point; but it will all come right at rehearsal."</p> - -<p>"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——"</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"No," argued Jack Head. "If the man's himself, he's -not funny, and nobody will laugh. I say——"</p> - -<p>"You can show us what you mean when you come to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</span> -your own part, Jack," said Dennis desperately. "Do get -on, Gollop."</p> - -<p>"Bow then," said Mr. Gollop to Nathan.</p> - -<p>"I'll bow when you do, and not a minute sooner," -answered the innkeeper firmly.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Here I, the King of Egypt, boldly do appear,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">St. Garge! St. Garge! walk in, my only son and heir;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Walk in, St. Garge, my son, and boldly act thy part,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That all the people here may see thy wondrous art!"</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>"Well done, Tom!" said Mr. Masterman, "that's -splendid; but you mustn't sing it."</p> - -<p>"I ban't singing it," answered the clerk. "I know what -to do."</p> - -<p>"All right. Now, St. George, St. George, where are you?"</p> - -<p>"Along with the girls, as usual," snapped Mr. Gollop.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"Give tongue, Ned!" cried his father.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>"And you needn't look round for the females, 'cause they -don't appear till later on," added Jack Head.</p> - -<p>A great laugh followed this jest, whereon Miss Masterman -begged her brother to try and keep order.</p> - -<p>"If they are not going to be serious, we had better give -it up, and waste no more time," she said.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span></p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>Ned looked at his part, then put it behind his back, and -then brought it out again.</p> - -<p>"This is too bad, Baskerville," complained Dennis. -"You told me yesterday that you knew every word."</p> - -<p>"So I did yesterday, I'll swear to it. I said it out in the -kitchen after supper to mother—didn't I, father?"</p> - -<p>"You did," assented Vivian; "but that's no use if you've -forgot it now."</p> - -<p>"'Tis stage fright," explained Nathan. "You'll get -over it."</p> - -<p>"Think you'm talking to a maiden," advised Jack -Head.</p> - -<p>"Do get on!" cried Dennis. Then he prompted the -faulty mummer.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Here come I, St. George——"</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Ned struck an attitude and started.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Here come I, St. George; from Britain did I spring;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I'll fight the Russian Bear, my wonders to begin.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I'll pierce him through, he shall not fly;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I'll cut him—cut him—cut him——"</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>"How does it go?"</p> - -<p>"'I'll cut him down,'" prompted Dennis.</p> - -<p>"Right!"</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"I'll cut him down, or else I'll die."</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>"Good! Now, come on, Bear!" said Nathan.</p> - -<p>"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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</span> -of course, 'fair Sabra' has to see St. George conquer his -foes."</p> - -<p>"That'll suit Ned exactly!" laughed Nathan.</p> - -<p>Then he marshalled Cora and several other young women, -including May and Polly Baskerville from Cadworthy, and -Cora's sister Phyllis.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"Who'll play the brass music?" asked Head, "because -I've got a very clever friend at Sheepstor——"</p> - -<p>"Leave all that to me. The music is arranged. Now, -come on!"</p> - -<p>"Shall you come on and play it like a four-footed thing, -or get up on your hind-legs, Jack?" asked St. George.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"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——"</p> - -<p>"Go on, then—go on. We'll talk afterwards."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span></p> - -<p>"Right. Now you try not to laugh, souls, and I wager -I'll make you giggle like a lot of zanies," promised Jack.</p> - -<p>Then he licked his hands, went down upon them, and -scrambled along upon all fours.</p> - -<p>"Good for you, Jack! Well done! You'm funnier than -anything that's gone afore!" cried Joe Voysey.</p> - -<p>"So you be, for certain," added Mrs. Hacker.</p> - -<p>"For all the world like my bob-tailed sheep-dog," -declared Mr. Waite.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"Well thought on!" declared Nathan. "So I will. -'Twill make the folk die of laughing to see you."</p> - -<p>"Come on to the battle," said Dennis.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>But Mr. Head stuck to his text.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</span></p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"By the way, who is to be the Doctor?" asked Ned -Baskerville. "'Twasn't settled, Mr. Masterman."</p> - -<p>Dennis collapsed blankly.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"All sorts of diseases—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Whatever you pleases:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The phthisic, the palsy, the gout,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">If the Devil's in, I blow him out.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> - -<p class="c"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> </p> - - -<div class="verse indent0">"I carry a bottle of alicampane,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Here, Russian Bear, take a little of my flip-flap,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Pour it down thy tip-tap;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Rise up and fight again!"</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>"Well said, Mark! 'Twas splendidly given. Why for -shouldn't Mark be Doctor?" asked Nathan.</p> - -<p>"An excellent idea," declared Dennis. "I'm sure now, -if the fair Queen Sabra will only put in a word——"</p> - -<p>Mark's engagement was known. The people clapped -their hands heartily and Cora blushed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</span></p> - -<p>"I wish he would," said Cora.</p> - -<p>"Your wish ought to be his law," declared Ned. "I'm -sure if 'twas me——"</p> - -<p>But Mark shook his head.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"It's past ten o'clock," murmured Miss Masterman to -her brother.</p> - -<p>The rehearsal proceeded: Jack Head, as the Bear, was -restored to life and slain again with much detail. Then Ned -proceeded—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"I fought the Russian Bear</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And brought him to the slaughter;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">By that I won fair Sabra,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The King of Egypt's daughter.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Where is the man that now will me defy?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I'll cut his giblets full of holes and make his buttons fly."</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>"And when I've got my sword, of course 'twill be much -finer," concluded Ned.</p> - -<p>Mr. Gollop here raised an objection.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"Nonsense, Tom," answered the vicar, "it's all in keeping -with the play. There's no harm in it at all."</p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</span></p> - -<p>"They'll die of laughing if you do that, Jack," declared -Vivian. "I vote for it."</p> - -<p>But Dennis firmly refused permission and addressed his -chorus.</p> - -<p>"Now, girls, the song—everybody joins. The other -songs are not written yet, so we need not bother about them -till next time."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>Ned, who declared that he had as yet learned no more, -read his next speech, and Vivian began behind the scenes—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Fee—fi—fo—fum!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I smell the blood of an Englishman.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Let him be living, or let him be dead,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I'll grind his bones to make my bread."</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</span></p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"A pity," answered Jack. "I was full of contrivances; -however, if you say so——"</p> - -<p>"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?"</p> - -<p>"I'll dance," said Head. "You can just turn round and -round slowly."</p> - -<p>"Now, Mr. Baskerville!"</p> - -<p>Vivian strode on to the stage.</p> - -<p>"Make your voice big, my dear," pleaded Gollop.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"Here come I, the Giant; bold Turpin is my name,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And all the nations round do tremble at my fame,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Where'er I go, they tremble at my sight:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">No lord or champion long with me will dare to fight."</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"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!"</p> - -<p>Mr. Baskerville bellowed with laughter and slapped his -immense thigh.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</span></p> - -<p>"Dammy! that's funnier than anything in the play," -he said. "'Keep my feet in the same parish!' Was ever -a better joke heard?"</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"'Twouldn't be the first time, however," said Mr. -Baskerville. "Would it, Ned?"</p> - -<p>Nathan and Ned's sisters appreciated this family joke. -Then Mr. Gollop advanced a sentimental objection.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>Gollop snarled at Head, and they began to wrangle -fiercely.</p> - -<p>Then Dennis closed the rehearsal.</p> - -<p>"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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</span> -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."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"Well," he broke out at length, "jolly good, I think, for a -first attempt—eh, Alice?"</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Eden Phillpotts</span> in <i>The Three Brothers</i> -</p> -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak gesperrt" id="X">X<br /> -NEW YEAR</h2> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig39.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<ul> -<li>NEW YEAR</li> -<li>New Year</li> -<li>Midnight Mass for the Dying Year</li> -<li>The Death of the Old Year</li> -<li>A New Year's Carol</li> -<li>New Year's Resolutions</li> -<li>Love and Joy come to You</li> -<li>Ring Out, Wild Bells</li> -<li>New Year's Eve, 1850</li> -<li>Rejoicings upon the New Year's Coming of Age</li> -<li>New Year's Rites in the Highlands</li> -<li>The Chinese New Year</li> -<li>New Year's Gifts in Thessaly</li> -<li>"Smashing" in the New Year</li> -<li>New Year Calls in Old New York</li> -<li>Sylvester Abend in Davos</li> -</ul> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig40.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c vivaldi">-<i>New Year</i>-</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</span></p> - -<p class="c p2" id="s106">New Year</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big">E</span>ACH New Year is a leaf of our love's rose;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">It falls, but quick another rose-leaf grows.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">So is the flower from year to year the same,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But richer, for the dead leaves feed its flame.</div> -<div class="verse indent95"><span class="smcap">Richard Watson Gilder</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="up l"> -<i>By permission of Houghton Mifflin Company</i> -</p> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s107">Midnight Mass for the Dying Year <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big16">Y</span>ES, the Year is growing old,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And his eye is pale and bleared!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Death, with frosty hand and cold,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Plucks the old man by the beard,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Sorely, sorely!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The leaves are falling, falling,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Solemnly and slow;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Caw! caw! the rooks are calling,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">It is a sound of woe,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">A sound of woe!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Through woods and mountain passes</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The winds, like anthems, roll;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">They are chanting solemn masses,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Singing, "Pray for this poor soul,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Pray, pray!"</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And the hooded clouds, like friars,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Tell their beads in drops of rain,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And patter their doleful prayers;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">But their prayers are all in vain,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">All in vain!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">There he stands in the foul weather,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The foolish, fond Old Year,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Crowned with wild-flowers and with heather,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Like weak, despised Lear,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">A king, a king!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Then comes the summer-like day,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</span>Bids the old man rejoice!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His joy, his last! O, the old man gray</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Loveth that ever-soft voice,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Gentle and low.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">To the crimson woods he saith,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To the voice gentle and low</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of the soft air, like a daughter's breath,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">"Pray do not mock me so!</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Do not laugh at me!"</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And now the sweet day is dead;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Cold in his arms it lies;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">No stain from its breath is spread</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Over the glassy skies,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">No mist or stain!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Then, too, the Old Year dieth,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And the forests utter a moan,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Like the voice of one who crieth</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In the wilderness alone,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">"Vex not his ghost!"</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Then comes, with an awful roar,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Gathering and sounding on,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The storm-wind from Labrador,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The wind Euroclydon,</div> -<div class="verse indent4">The storm-wind!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Howl! howl! and from the forest</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Sweep the red leaves away!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Would, the sins that thou abhorrest,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">O Soul! could thus decay,</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</span>And be swept away!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">For there shall come a mightier blast,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">There shall be a darker day;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the stars, from heaven down-cast,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Like red leaves be swept away!</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Kyrie, eleyson!</div> -<div class="verse indent4">Christe, eleyson!</div> -<div class="verse indent95"><span class="smcap">Henry W. Longfellow</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s108">The Death of the Old Year <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big1">F</span>ULL knee-deep lies the winter snow,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the winter winds are wearily sighing:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Toll ye the church-bell sad and slow,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And tread softly and speak low,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For the old year lies a-dying.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Old year, you must not die;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">You came to us so readily,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">You lived with us so steadily,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Old year, you shall not die.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">He lieth still: he doth not move:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He will not see the dawn of day.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He hath no other life above.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He gave me a friend, and a true true-love,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And the New Year will take 'em away.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Old year, you must not go;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">So long as you have been with us,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Such joy as you have seen with us,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Old year, you shall not go.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">He froth'd his bumpers to the brim;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A jollier year we shall not see.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">But tho' his eyes are waxing dim,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And tho' his foes speak ill of him,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">He was a friend to me.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Old year, you shall not die;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">We did so laugh and cry with you,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">I've half a mind to die with you,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Old year, if you must die.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">He was full of joke and jest,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But all his merry quips are o'er.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To see him die, across the waste</div> -<div class="verse indent0">His son and heir doth ride post-haste,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But he'll be dead before.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Every one for his own.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The night is starry and cold, my friend,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And the New-year blithe and bold, my friend,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Comes up to take his own.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">How hard he breathes! over the snow</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I heard just now the crowing cock.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The shadows flicker to and fro:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The cricket chirps: the light burns low:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">'Tis nearly twelve o'clock.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Shake hands, before you die.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Old year, we'll dearly rue for you:</div> -<div class="verse indent1">What is it we can do for you?</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Speak out before you die.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">His face is growing sharp and thin.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Alack! our friend is gone.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Close up his eyes: tie up his chin:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Step from the corpse, and let him in</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That standeth there alone,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent1">And awaiteth at the door.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">There's a new foot on the floor, my friend,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And a new face at the door, my friend,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">A new face at the door.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><span class="smcap">Alfred Tennyson</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s109">A New Year's Carol <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">A</span>H! dearest Jesus, Holy Child,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Make Thee a bed, soft, undefil'd,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Within my heart, that it may be</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A quiet chamber kept for Thee.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">My heart for very joy doth leap,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">My lips no more can silence keep,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I too must sing, with joyful tongue,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That sweetest ancient cradle song,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">"Glory to God in highest Heaven,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Who unto man His Son hath given."</div> -<div class="verse indent0">While angels sing, with pious mirth,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A glad New Year to all the earth.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><span class="smcap">Martin Luther</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s110">New Year's Resolutions <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</span> -great guns. We sat wrapped up to our eyes in furs, and -as mute as a funeral procession.</p> - -<p>"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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</span>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.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="f12"> -<img src="images/fig12.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c">THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. <span class="pad2"><i>Paolo Veronese.</i></span></p> -</div> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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."</p> - -<p>"And that is just why I love you," I thought. She -often says what I feel.</p> - -<p class="r"> -From <i>Elizabeth and her German Garden</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s111">Love and Joy come to You <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">H</span>ERE we come a-wassailing</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Among the leaves so green,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Here we come a-wandering,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">So fair to be seen.</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</span> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>Love and joy come to you,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>And to you your wassail too,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>And God bless you, and send you</i></div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>A happy New Year.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">We are not daily beggars</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That beg from door to door,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">But we are neighbours' children</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Whom you have seen before.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>Love and joy, &c.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Good Master and good Mistress,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">As you sit by the fire,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Pray think of us poor children</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Who are wandering in the mire.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>Love and joy, &c.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">We have a little purse</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Made of ratching leather skin;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We want some of your small change</div> -<div class="verse indent1">To line it well within.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>Love and joy, &c.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Call up the butler of this house,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Put on his golden ring;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Let him bring us a glass of beer,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And the better we shall sing.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>Love and joy, &c.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Bring us out a table,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And spread it with a cloth;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Bring us out a mouldy cheese</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And some of your Christmas loaf.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>Love and joy, &c.</i></div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">God bless the Master of this house,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Likewise the Mistress too,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And all the little children</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That round the table go.</div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>Love and joy come to you,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>And to you your wassail too,</i></div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>And God bless you, and send you</i></div> -<div class="verse indent4"><i>A happy New Year.</i></div> -<div class="verse indent92"><i>Old English</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s112">Ring Out, Wild Bells <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big">R</span>ING out, wild bells, to the wild sky,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The flying cloud, the frosty light:</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The year is dying in the night;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Ring out the old, ring in the new,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Ring, happy bells, across the snow;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The year is going, let him go;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ring out the false, ring in the true.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Ring out the grief that saps the mind,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">For those that here we see no more;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Ring out the feud of rich and poor,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ring in redress to all mankind.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> - -<p class="c"> * <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> <span class="pad5">*</span> </p> - -<div class="verse indent0">Ring out old shapes of foul disease,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Ring out the thousand wars of old,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ring in the thousand years of peace.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Ring in the valiant man and free,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The larger heart, the kindlier hand;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Ring out the darkness of the land,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ring in the Christ that is to be.</div> -<div class="verse indent96"><span class="smcap">Alfred Tennyson</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s113">New Year's Eve, 1850 <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big1">T</span>HIS is the midnight of the century,—hark!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Through aisle and arch of Godminster have gone</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Twelve throbs that tolled the zenith of the dark,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And mornward now the starry hands move on;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"Mornward!" the angelic watchers say,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"Passed is the sorest trial;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">No plot of man can stay</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The hand upon the dial;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Night is the dark stem of the lily Day."</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">If we, who watched in valleys here below,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Toward streaks, misdeemed of morn, our faces turned</div> -<div class="verse indent0">When Vulcan glares set all the east aglow,—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We are not poorer that we wept and yearned;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Though earth swing wide from God's intent,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And though no man nor nation</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Will move with full consent</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In heavenly gravitation,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Yet by one Sun is every orbit bent.</div> -<div class="verse indent99"><span class="smcap">James Russell Lowell</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</span></p> - -<p class="xlarge" id="s114">Rejoicings upon the New Year's Coming of Age</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Well, they all met at last—foul Days, fine Days, all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</span> -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 <i>boutefeu</i> and firebrand -as he had shown himself to be.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Shrove-tide, Lord Mayor's Day, and April Fool next -joined in a glee—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Which is the properest day to drink?</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>in which all the Days chiming in, made a merry burden.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</span></p> -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</span>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—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">On the bat's back do I fly,</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Charles Lamb</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s115">New Year's Rites in the Highlands <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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 <i>first foot</i>, or a -neighborly greeting. After the year had commenced, each<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</span> -one hastened to his neighbor's house bearing a small -gift; it was deemed "unlucky" to enter "empty handed."</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The direction of the wind on New Year's Eve was supposed -to rule the weather during the approaching year. -Hence the rhyme:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">If New Year's Eve night-wind blow south,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">It betokeneth warmth and growth;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">If west, much milk,—and fish in the sea:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">If north, much cold and storms there will be;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">If east, the trees will bear much fruit;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">If north-east, flee it, man and brute.</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Charles Rogers</span> in <i>Social Life in Scotland</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s116">The Chinese New Year <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The first celebration of the New Year is the offering <i>to -heaven and earth</i>. 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</span> -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."</p> - -<p>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 <i>happiness</i> 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."</p> - -<p>In some parts of China there prevails a curious custom -among mendicants of electing a chief who goes to each<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">H. C. Sirr</span> in <i>China and the Chinese</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s117">New Year's Gifts in Thessaly <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</span> -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!"</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Every Thessalian, however poor, gives a New Year's -gift "for good luck," they say; and these gifts curiously<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</span> -enough are called ἐπινομίδες—a word which we find -Athenænus using as a translation of the Roman term <i>strena</i> -for the same gift, which still exists in the French <i>étrennes</i> -and Italian <i>strenne</i>. Even as in ancient Rome gifts were -given on this day <i>bona ominis causa</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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."</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</span> -make an effort to give his friends a gift on the day of the -Kalends.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">J. Theodore Bent</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s118">"Smashing" in the New Year <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Jacob Riis</span> in <i>The Old Town</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s119">New Year Calls in Old New York <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</span> -or marvellous chocolate, or perfect Mocha coffee; or for the -select <i>cognoscenti</i> 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 <i>cartouche</i>, and in later and more degenerate -days relays of champagne-bottles appeared,—the -coming in of the lower empire.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>A reaction naturally set in which ended in the almost -complete disuse of the custom of New Year's Calls.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">W. S. Walsh</span> in <i>Curiosities of Popular Customs</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s120">Sylvester Abend in Davos <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>The occasion was cheerful, and yet a little solemn. The -scene was feudal. For these Buols are the scions of a -warrior race:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">"A race illustrious for heroic deeds;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Humbled, but degraded."</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>During the six centuries through which they have lived<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</span> -Veltliner for the company. This jovial fine was ours to pay -to-night.</p> - -<p>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!</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</span> -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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</span> -gazing eyes, and are resumed, sedately, into the diurnal -round of common life. Another pair is in their room -upon the beam.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</span> -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....</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">John Addington Symonds</span> -</p> -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak gesperrt" id="XI">XI<br /> -TWELFTH NIGHT</h2> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig41.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - - -<ul> -<li>TWELFTH NIGHT</li> -<li>"Now have Good Day!"</li> -<li>A Twelfth Night Superstition</li> -<li>Twelfth-Day Table Diversion</li> -<li>The Blessing of the Waters</li> -<li>La Galette du Roi</li> -<li>Drawing King and Queen on Twelfth Night</li> -<li>St. Distaff's Day and Plough Monday</li> -</ul> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig42.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</span></p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">D</span>OWN with the rosemary and bays,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Down with the mistletoe;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Instead of holly, now up-raise</div> -<div class="verse indent1">The greener box, for show.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">The holly hitherto did sway;</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Let box now domineer,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Until the dancing Easter-day,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">On Easter's Eve appear.</div> -<div class="verse indent93"><span class="smcap">Robert Herrick</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s121">Now have Good Day <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><i><span class="big2">N</span>OW have good day, now have good day!</i></div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>I am Christmas, and now I go my way!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Here have I dwelt with more and less,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">From Hallow-tide till Candlemas!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And now must I from you hence pass,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Now have good day!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">I take my leave of King and Knight,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And Earl, Baron, and lady bright!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To wilderness I must me dight!</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Now have good day!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And at the good lord of this hall,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I take my leave, and of guests all!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Methinks I hear Lent doth call,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Now have good day!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And at every worthy officer,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Marshall, painter, and butler,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">I take my leave as for this year,</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Now have good day!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Another year I trust I shall</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Make merry in this hall!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">If rest and peace in England may fall!</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Now have good day!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">But often times I have heard say,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That he is loth to part away,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">That often biddeth "have good day!"</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</span><i>Now have good day!</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Now fare ye well all in-fere!</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Now fare ye well for all this year,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Yet for my sake make ye good cheer!</div> -<div class="verse indent1"><i>Now have good day!</i></div> -<div class="verse indent94"><i>From a Balliol MS. of c. 1540</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s122">A Twelfth Night Superstition <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap"> -TWICE six nights then from Christmasse, they do count with diligence,<br /> -Where in eche maister in his house doth burne by franckensence:<br /> -And on the table settes a loafe, when night approcheth nere,<br /> -Before the coles and franckensence to be perfumed there:<br /> -First bowing down his heade he standes, and nose and eares and eyes<br /> -He smokes, and with hos mouth receyves the fume that doth arise<br /> -Whom followeth streight his wife, and doth the same full solemly,<br /> -And of their children every one and all their family;<br /> -Which doth preserve they say their teeth and nose and eye and eare<br /> -From every kind of maladie, and sicknesse all the yeare.<br /> -When every one receyued hath this odour great and small<br /> -Then one takes up the pan with coales, and franckensence and all<br /> -An other takes the loafe, whom all the rest do follow here.<br /> -And round about the house they go with torch or taper clere,<br /> -That neither bread nor meat do want, nor witch with dreadful charme<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</span><br /> -Have power to hurt their children or to do their cattell harme<br /> -There are that three nightes only do perfoure this foolish geare<br /> -To this intent, and thinke themselves in safetie all the yeare.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Barnaby Googe's</span> versification of <i>The Popish Kingdome</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s123">Twelfth-Day Table Diversion <img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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:—</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</span> -charger, with a ground made of salt with egg-shells of -perfumed waters stuck in it as before.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<i>The Cook and Confectioner's Dictionary</i>, 1726 -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s124">The Blessing of the Waters<img src="images/fig20.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</span> -pots and jugs of every size and description, full of water, -stood about on the floor in the immediate vicinity of the font.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</span> -and the wet men sat down for a heavy drink—to drive -out the chill, I suppose.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">J. T. Bent</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s125">La Galette du Roi <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">IN France, where it probably originated, the Twelfth -Night cake, known as La Galette du Roi ("the king's -cake"), still survives.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" id="f13"> -<img src="images/fig13.jpg" alt=""/> -<p class="c">THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. <span class="pad2"><i>Memling.</i></span></p> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">William Hone</span> in the <i>Everyday Book</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s126">Drawing King and Queen on Twelfth Night <img src="images/fig19.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">HONE, in his <i>Everyday Book</i>, 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.</p> - -<p>This done, let the cake and refreshments go round, and -hey! for merriment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s127">St. Distaff's Day and Plough Monday <img src="images/fig18.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p>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."</p> - -<p>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."</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">William Hone</span> in <i>Year Book</i> -</p> - -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak gesperrt" id="XII">XII<br /> -THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT</h2> - -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig43.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<ul> -<li>THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT</li> -<li>"As Little Children in a Darkened Hall"</li> -<li>Christmas Dreams</li> -<li>The Professor's Christmas Sermon</li> -<li>Awaiting the King</li> -<li>Elizabeth's Christmas Sermon</li> -<li>Nichola's "Reason Why"</li> -<li>The Changing Spirit of Christmastide</li> -<li>A Prayer for Christmas Peace</li> -<li>Under the Holly Bough</li> -<li>Christmas Music</li> -<li>A Christmas Sermon</li> -</ul> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/fig44.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</span></p> - - -<div class="poetry-container" id="s128"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">A</span>S little children in a darkened hall</div> -<div class="verse indent0">At Christmas-tide await the opening door,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Eager to tread the fairy-haunted floor</div> -<div class="verse indent0">About the tree with goodly gifts for all,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And into the dark unto each other call—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Trying to guess their happiness before,—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Or of their elders eagerly implore</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Hints of what fortune unto them may fall:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">So wait we in Time's dim and narrow room,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And with strange fancies, or another's thought,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Try to divine, before the curtain rise,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The wondrous scene. Yet soon shall fly the gloom,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And we shall see what patient ages sought,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The Father's long-planned gift of Paradise.</div> -<div class="verse indent82"><span class="smcap">Charles Henry Crandall</span> in <i>Wayside Music</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="up c">Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</span></p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s129">Christmas Dreams <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">TO-MORROW is Merry Christmas; and when its -night descends there will be mirth and music, and -the light sounds of the merry-twinkling feet within these -now so melancholy walls—and sleep now reigning over -all the house save this one room, will be banished far over -the sea—and morning will be reluctant to allow her light -to break up the innocent orgies.</p> - -<p>Were every Christmas of which we have been present at -the celebration, painted according to nature—what a -Gallery of Pictures! True that a sameness would pervade -them all—but only that kind of sameness that pervades -the nocturnal heavens. One clear night always is, -to common eyes, just like another; for what hath any -night to show but one moon and some stars—a blue vault, -with here a few braided, and there a few castellated, clouds? -yet no two nights ever bore more than a family resemblance -to each other before the studious and instructed eye of him -who has long communed with Nature, and is familiar with -every smile and frown on her changeful, but not capricious, -countenance. Even so with the Annual Festivals of the -heart. Then our thoughts are the stars that illumine -those skies—and on ourselves it depends whether they -shall be black as Erebus, or brighter than Aurora.</p> - -<p>"Thoughts! that like spirits trackless come and go"—is -a fine line of Charles Lloyd's. But no bird skims, no arrow -pierces the air, without producing some change in the -Universe, which will last to the day of doom. No coming -and going is absolutely trackless; nor irrecoverable by -Nature's law is any consciousness, however ghostlike; -though many a one, even the most blissful, never does<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>My Father's House! How it is ringing like a grove -in spring, with the din of creatures happier, a thousand -times happier, than all the birds on earth. It is the Christmas -holidays—Christmas Day itself—Christmas Night—and -Joy in every bosom intensifies Love. Never before -were we brothers and sisters so dear to one another—never -before had our hearts so yearned towards the authors -of our being—our blissful being! There they sat—silent -in all that outcry—composed in all that disarray—still -in all that tumult; yet, as one or other flying imp -sweeps round the chair, a father's hand will playfully -strive to catch a prisoner—a mother's gentler touch on -some sylph's disordered symar be felt almost as a reproof, -and for a moment slacken the fairy flight. One old game -treads on the heels of another—twenty within the hour—and -many a new game never heard of before nor since, -struck out by the collision of kindred spirits in their glee, -the transitory fancies of genius inventive through very -delight. Then, all at once, there is a hush, profound as -ever falls on some little plat within a forest when the moon -drops behind the mountain, and small green-robed People<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</span> -of Peace at once cease their pastime, and vanish. For -she—the Silver-Tongued—is about to sing an old ballad, -words and air alike hundreds of years old—and sing she -doth, while tears begin to fall, with a voice too mournfully -beautiful long to breathe below—and, ere another Christmas -shall have come with the falling snows, doomed to be -mute on earth—but to be hymning in Heaven....</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</span> -that called her home" had so long been whispering in her -ear, that its accents had become dear to her, and consolatory -every word that was heard in the silence, as from -another world.</p> - -<p>Whether we were indeed all so witty as we thought -ourselves—uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, nephews, -nieces, cousins, and "the rest," it might be presumptuous -in us, who were considered by ourselves and a few others -not the least amusing of the whole set, at this distance of -time to decide—especially in the affirmative; but how -the roof did ring with sally, pun, retort, and repartee! -Ay, with pun—a species of impertinence for which we -have therefore a kindness even to this day. Had incomparable -Thomas Hood had the good fortune to have been -born a cousin of ours, how with that fine fancy of his would -he have shone at those Christmas festivals, eclipsing us all! -Our family, through all its different branches, 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>On rolled Suns and Seasons—the old died—the elderly -became old—and the young, one after another, were -wafted joyously away on the wings of hope, like birds almost -as soon as they can fly, ungratefully forsaking their nests -and the groves in whose safe shadow they first essayed -their pinions; or like pinnaces that, after having for a few -days trimmed their snow-white sails in the land-locked -bay, close to whose shores of silvery sand had grown the -trees that furnished timber both for hull and mast, slip -their tiny cables on some summer day, and gathering every -breeze that blows, go dancing over the waves in sunshine, -and melt far off into the main. Or, haply, some were like -young trees, transplanted during no favorable season, and -never to take root in another soil, but soon leaf and branch -to wither beneath the tropic sun, and die almost unheeded -by those who knew not how beautiful they had been beneath -the dews and mists of their own native climate.</p> - -<p>Vain images! and therefore chosen by fancy not too -plainly to touch the heart. For some hearts grew cold and -forbidding with selfish cares—some, warm as ever in their -own generous glow, were touched by the chill of Fortune's -frowns, ever worst to bear when suddenly succeeding her -smiles—some, to rid themselves of painful regrets, took -refuge in forgetfulness, and closed their eyes to the past—duty -banished some abroad, and duty imprisoned others -at home—estrangements there were, at first unconscious -and unintended, yet erelong, though causeless, complete—changes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</span> -were wrought insensibly, invisibly, even in the -innermost nature of those who being friends knew no -guile, yet came thereby at last to be friends no more—unrequited -love broke some bonds—requited love relaxed -others—the death of one altered the conditions of -many—and so—year after year—the Christmas Meeting -was interrupted—deferred—till finally it ceased -with one accord, unrenewed and unrenewable. For when -Some Things cease for a time—that time turns out to be -forever....</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The opening year in a town, now answers in all things -to our heart's desire. How beautiful the smoky air! The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>But a truce to comparisons; for we are beginning to feel -contrition for our crime against the country, and, with -humbled head and heart, we beseech you to pardon us—ye -rocks of Pavey-Ark, the pillared palaces of the storms—ye -clouds, now wreathing a diadem for the forehead of -Helvellyn—ye trees, that hang the shadows of your undying -beauty over the "one perfect chrysolite," of blessed -Windermere!</p> - -<p>Our meaning is transparent now as the hand of an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</span> -apparition waving peace and good-will to all dwellers in the -land of dreams. In plainer but not simpler words (for -words are like flowers, often rich in their simplicity—witness -the Lily, and Solomon's Song)—Christian people -all, we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New-Year -in town or in country—or in ships at sea.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Christopher North</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s130">The Professor's Christmas Sermon <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Take all in a word: the truth in God's breast</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Lies trace for trace upon ours impressed;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Though he is so bright and we so dim,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">We are made in his image to witness him:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And were no eye in us to tell,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Instructed by no inner sense,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The light of heaven from the dark of hell,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">That light would want its evidence,—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Though justice, good and truth were still</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Divine, if, by some demon's will,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Hatred and wrong had been proclaimed</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Law through the worlds, and right misnamed.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">No mere exposition of morality</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Made or in part or in totality,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Should win you to give it worship, therefore:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And, if no better proof you will care for,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Whom do you count the worst man upon earth?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Be sure, he knows, in his conscience, more</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of right what is, than arrives at birth</div> -<div class="verse indent0">In the best man's acts that we bow before:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">This last knows better—true, but my fact is,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">'Tis one thing to know, and another to practise.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And thence I conclude that the real God-function</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Is to furnish a motive and injunction</div> -<div class="verse indent0">For practising what we know already.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And such an injunction and such a motive</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As the God in Christ, do you waive, and "heady,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">High-minded," hang your tablet-votive</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Outside the fane on a finger-post?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Morality to the uttermost,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Supreme in Christ as we all confess,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Why need we prove would avail no jot</div> -<div class="verse indent0">To make him God, if God he were not?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">What is the point where himself lays stress?</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Does the precept run "Believe in good,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"In justice, truth now understood</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"For the first time?"—or, "Believe in me,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"Who lived and died, yet essentially</div> -<div class="verse indent0">"Am Lord of Life?" Whoever can take</div> -<div class="verse indent0">The same to his heart and for mere love's sake</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Conceive of the love,—that man obtains</div> -<div class="verse indent0">A new truth; no conviction gains</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Of an old one only, made intense</div> -<div class="verse indent0">By a fresh appeal to his faded sense.</div> -<div class="verse indent87"><span class="smcap">Robert Browning</span> from <i>Christmas Eve</i></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s131">Awaiting the King <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</span> -be sure that everyone is all ready for him, and that nothing -has been forgotten.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">F. Marion Crawford</span> in <i>The Little City of Hope</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s132">Elizabeth's Christmas Sermon <img src="images/fig16.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</span> -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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -From <i>Elizabeth and her German Garden</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s133">Nichola Expounds "the Reason Why" on<br /> -Christmas Eve <img src="images/fig24.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">"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.</p> - -<p>"Pockets?" Hobart repeated, puzzled.</p> - -<p>"For the love of heaven, yes!" Nichola cried. "Pockets—money—give!" -she illustrated in pantomime. "What<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</span> -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, "<i>Helping is why.</i> Yah! None of what you say is -so. Mem, I didn't get no time to frost the nutcakes."</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Zona Gale</span> in <i>The Loves of Pelleas and Etarre</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s134">The Changing Spirit of Christmastide <img src="images/fig18.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</span></p> - -<p>One of the least pleasing effects of modern refinement is the -havoc it has made among the hearty old holiday customs! -It has completely taken off the sharp touchings and spirited -reliefs of these embellishments of life, and has worn down -society into a more smooth and polished, but certainly a less -characteristic surface. Many of the games and ceremonials -of Christmas have entirely disappeared, and like the sherris -sack of old Falstaff, are become matters of speculation and -dispute among commentators. They flourished in times -full of spirit and lustihood, when men enjoyed life roughly, -but heartily and vigorously; times wild and picturesque, -which have furnished poetry with its richest materials, and -the drama with its most attractive variety of characters and -manners. The world has become more worldly. There is -more of dissipation, and less 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</span>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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Washington Irving</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s135">Charles Kingsley's Prayer for Christmas Peace</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</span> -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."</p> - -<p class="r"> -From <i>Town and Country Sermons</i> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s136">Under the Holly Bough <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0"><span class="big2">Y</span>E who have scorned each other,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Or injured friend or brother,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In this fast fading year;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ye who, by word or deed,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Have made a kind heart bleed,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Come gather here.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Let sinned against, and sinning,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Forget their strife's beginning,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">And join in friendship now:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Be links no longer broken,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Be sweet forgiveness spoken,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Under the Holly Bough.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Ye who have loved each other,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Sister and friend and brother,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In this fast fading year:</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Mother and sire and child,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Young man and maiden mild,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Come gather here;</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">And let your hearts grow fonder,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">As memory shall ponder</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Each past unbroken vow.</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Old loves and younger wooing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</span></div> -<div class="verse indent0">Are sweet in the renewing,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Under the Holly Bough.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Ye who have nourished sadness,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Estranged from hope and gladness,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">In this fast fading year;</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Ye, with o'erburdened mind,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Made aliens from your kind,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Come gather here.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse indent0">Let not the useless sorrow</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Pursue you night and morrow.</div> -<div class="verse indent1">If e'er you hoped, hope now—</div> -<div class="verse indent0">Take heart;—uncloud your faces,</div> -<div class="verse indent0">And join in our embraces,</div> -<div class="verse indent1">Under the Holly Bough.</div> -<div class="verse indent93"><span class="smcap">Charles Mackay</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<p class="xlarge" id="s137">Christmas Music <img src="images/fig21.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</span> -this manner all our Christmas thoughts and emotions have -been gathered up for us by Handel in his drama of the -<i>Messiah</i>. 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.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">John Addington Symonds</span> -</p> - - -<p class="xlarge p2" id="s138">A Christmas Sermon <img src="images/fig17.jpg" alt=""/></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="up l"> -<span class="smcap">Robert Louis Stevenson</span> in <i>A Christmas Sermon</i> -</p> - -<p class="l">By permission of Charles Scribner's Sons</p> - - -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph3">The Gentlest Art</p> -</div> - -<p class="c"><i>A Choice of Letters by Entertaining Hands</i></p> - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">Edited by</span> E. V. LUCAS</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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."—<i>The New York -Times.</i></p> - -<p>"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."—<i>The Argonaut.</i></p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<p class="r4"> -<i>Cloth, $1.25 net</i> -</p></div> - - -<p class="ph3">The Friendly Craft</p> - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">Edited by</span> ELIZABETH D. HANSCOM</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>In this volume the author has done for American letters what -Mr. Lucas did for English in "The Gentlest Art."</p> - -<p>"... 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."—<i>The Independent.</i></p> - -<p>"There should be a copy of this delightful book in the collection -of every lover of that which is choice in literature."—<i>The -New York Times.</i></p> - - -<p class="r4"> -<i>Cloth, $1.25 net</i> -</p></div> - -<hr class="ad x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p class="c"> -PUBLISHED BY</p> - -<p class="c xxlarge"> -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</p> - -<p class="c"> -64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York -</p> - - -<p class="ph3 c">The Golden Treasury Series</p> - -<p class="c"><i>Blue 16mos, each $1.00</i></p> - -<p class="c">AMONG THEM ARE:</p> - -<table class="autotable fs80"> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Addison, John. Essays.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">London Lyrics. By F. Locker-Lampson.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Aphorisms and Reflections. By T. H. Huxley.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Lyre Francaise, La. Arranged with notes by G. Masson.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Arnold, Matthew, Poems.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Lyric Love. An Anthology. Ed. by W. Watson.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Art of Worldly Wisdom. By B. Gracian. Trans. by J. Jacobs.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Thoughts of. By G. H. Rendall.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. By O. W. Holmes.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Mohammed, Speeches and Table Talk. Ed. by S. Lane-Poole.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Bacon, Sir Francis. Essays. Ed. by W. A. Wright.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Moore, Thos. Poems. Selected by C. L. Falkiner.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Ballad Book. Ed. by W. Allingham.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Old Age; Friendship. By Cicero. Trans. by E. S. Schuckburgh.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Balladen und Romanzen. Ed. by C. A. Buchheim.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Phædrus, Lysis, etc. By Plato. Trans. by J. Wright.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Book of Golden Deeds. By C. M. Yonge.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Pilgrim's Progress. By John Bunyan.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Book of Golden Thoughts. By H. Attwell.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Religio Medici. By Sir T. Browne. Ed. by W. A. Greenhill.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Book of Worthies. By Charlotte M. Yonge.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Republic. By Plato. Trans. by J. L. Davies & D. J. Vaughan.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Byron, Lord. Poems. Chosen by M. Arnold.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Robinson Crusoe. By D. Defoe. Ed. by J. W. Clark.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Children's Garland, The. Selected by C. Patmore.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Rossetti, C. Poems. Chosen by W. M. Rossetti.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Children's Treasury of Lyrical Poetry. Selected by F. T. Palgrave.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. By E. Fitzgerald.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Christian Year, The. By J. Keble, Ed. by Charlotte M. Yonge.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Shakespeare, W. Songs and Sonnets. Ed. by F. T. Palgrave.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Clough, A. H. Poems by. Ed. by W. Benham.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Shelley, P. B. Poems. Ed. by S. A. Brooke.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Cowper, W. Letters of. Ed. by Mrs. Oliphant.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Southey, R. Poems. Chosen by E. Dowden.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Deutsche Lyrik. Selected by C. A. Buchheim.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Steele. R. Essays. Ed. by L. E. Steele.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Epictetus. Golden Sayings of. Ed. by H. Crossley.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Tales from Shakespeare. By C. Lamb.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Golden Treasury Psalter.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Tennyson, Lord Alfred.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Golden Treasury of the Best Songs and Lyrics. By F. T. Palgrave.<br />—— —— Second Series.</td> -<td class="tdlt bl"><span class="pad2">Idylls of the King.</span><br /><span class="pad2">In Memoriam.</span><br /><span class="pad2">Lyrical Poems. Ed. by F. T. Palgrave.</span><br /><span class="pad2">The Princess.</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Fairy Book. Selected by Mrs. D. M. Craik.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Theocritus, Bion and Moschus. Ed. by A. Lang.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">House of Atreus, The. By Æschylus. Trans. by E. A. Morshead.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Tom Brown's Schooldays. By T. Hughes.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Hydriotaphia, etc. By Sir T. Browne. Ed. by W. A. Greenhill.</td> -<td class="tdl bl">Trial and Death of Socrates. By Plato. Trans. by A. J. Church.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Jest Book. Arranged by Mark Lemon.<br /></td> -<td class="tdl bl">Wordsworth, W. Poems. Selected by M. Arnold.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Keats, John. Poems. Ed. by F. T. Palgrave.</td> -<td class="tdl bl"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Landor, W. S. Poems. Selected by E. S. Colvin.</td> -<td class="tdl bl"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Lieder und Gedichte. By H. Heine.</td> -<td class="tdl bl"></td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<hr class="ad x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - - -<p class="c"> -PUBLISHED BY</p> - -<p class="c xxlarge"> -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</p> - -<p class="c large"> -64-66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK -</p> - - -<p class="ph3">The Ladies' Pageant</p> - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">By</span> E. V. LUCAS</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>"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."—<i>Town and -Country.</i></p> - -<p>"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."—<i>The Chicago Tribune.</i></p> - -<p class="r4"> -<i>Cloth, $1.25 net</i> -</p></div> - - -<p class="ph3">Some Friends of Mine</p> - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">By</span> E. V. LUCAS</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>"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."—<i>The -New York Tribune.</i></p> - -<p class="r4"> -<i>Now ready</i> -</p></div> - -<hr class="ad x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p class="c"> -PUBLISHED BY</p> - -<p class="c xxlarge"> -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</p> - -<p class="c"> -64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York -</p> - - -<p class="ph3">London's Lure</p> - -<p class="c"><i>An Anthology in Prose and Verse</i></p> - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">By</span> HELEN <span class="allsmcap">AND</span> LEWIS MELVILLE</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>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. 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