The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1870-12-27 00:00:00

brat Cottutti Exiness.

TUF.SDAY. DECEMBER 27, 1870.

CHRISTMAS.

Once more we hail Christmas, that never-
failing season of rejoicing. The yule log
again blazes brightly on many a hearth, the
mistletoe and the bright-berried holly display
their alluring and suggestive charms, indif-
ferently in mansion and cottage, kindred and
friends long separated are drawn together,
bright eyes give expression to the delight felt
by blithe hearts, hearty greetings are exchanged,
and fervent prayers for the future breathed;
in short, the great festival again calls forth,
as it has done through countless generations,
those genial qualities of mind and soul which
are peculiarly associated with it. Most hear-
tily do we bid each and all of our readers a
Merry Christmas ! and if it be true, as the
proverb tells us, that "good luck is born of
good wishes," we venture to promise them
likewise a happy and prosperous New Year,
for no way short of that blessing do our
aspirations halt. The good Old Father—as
we love to designate our type of the glad
season—this year comes to us as we like best
to greet him—
, Clothed in all frize,
Chattering his teeth for cold.

This is seasonable. It is what our grandsires
have handed down to us, as marking the
Christmases of their time. It is what poets
and painters, from the earliest to the latest,
have sung of and pourtrayed, and have sur-
rounded with a never-fading halo; and it is,
too, that which is peculiarly fitted to invigor-
ate the body and exhilirate the feelings, and
heighten our relish for the good cheer which
Christmas brings. Would that the enjoy-
ments of the season could be participated in
by the entire human family. Alas ! such
cannot be the case. The grand event which
, the festival celebrates is the common hen-
tage of all. The Herald Angels, as they
' sang in gladsome strains, "Glory to the new
born King," proclaimed at the same time
"Peace on Earth" and "good will" towards
all men. It is, then, a mournful reflection
that at a time when Christendom in every
other part of the world is joining in one loud
peal of thanksgiving to the Most High for
His great scheme of salvation, the contending
armies of France and Germany are engaged
iu a bloody strife; a strife which is fast
desolating one country, and which cannot
fail to be wringing thousands of widowed and
childless hearts in the other. And, amid our
enjoyments in happy England, let us not for-
get those who, from lack of employment, from
failures in trade, from old age, and a variety
of causes are without the means of procuring
for themselves a wholesome meal, or securing
any means of warmth or adequate shelter.
Very often such persons shrink from parading
their indigence before the world, and are only
encountered amidst the visitations of the
ministers of religion and other Christian phil-
anthropists at the dwellings of the poor. It
becomes us all to bear well in mind at periods
when "the air bites shrewdly," as at present,
the thoughts so happily expressed by Mary
Howitt—
In rich men's halls the fire is piled,
And ermine robe.; keep out the weather;
lu poor men's huts the fire is low,
Through broken panes the keen winds blow,
And old and young are cold together.

Our parting words, ere with sober joy we
proceed to hail the Hallowed Season, shall
be those of gratitude and hope—Gratitude
for the peace that now reigns in our happy
sea-girt isle, and the sense of security which
we enjoy; and hope that, ere another Christ-
mas Festival dawns upon us, order may have
come out of chaos, light out of darkness, and
immeasurable and lasting good out of the evil
that at this hour is afflicting two great nations.
Earnestly to strive at all times, and on all
occasions, to do the duty that lies closest to
us, with conscientious and resolute hearts, is
the truest way to obtain the blessings of the
Festive Season. This done, we may rest
assured that every recurring year will bring to
us, in truth and reality, that which we now
most earnestly wish to every one of our
readers—