The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-26 00:00:00

late the cheap country excursion has drawn off its cus-
tomers. A more wholesome and not less effectual
stimulant than spirits is found in the froth ami exhila-
rating breath of the fields and the woods. Can any
right-thinking man have a doubt as to what our choice
should be between such alternatives? Which:is the pro-
fanation of the religion of Christ—which the outrage to
morality—the employment of a few to give the labouring
class the same pure enjoypient on the Sunday which the
rich have at command, or the adoption of a rule which
practically imprisons those toil-worn multitudes,
and drives them to the' momentary,' but mi-
serable and ruinous relief of intoxication ? " Very
plausible," some shrewd and well-meaning formalist may
observe ; " but what if the Sunday trains only change
the scene of intoxication ? What if the city dram shops
are deserted only that the fair face of the country and
the solemnity of the Sabbath may be desecrated by city
debauchery ?" Yes. if—. But what says the witness
we have referred to ?

" Last summer (when the Sunday trains were run-
ning) I found no occasion to have any extra constables at
Jock's Lodge, the public houses being less frequented,
and no breaches of the peace committed. The same
applies all around Edinburgh. The sergeant at Mussel-
burgh reports that he sass no increase at the public-
houses in his district, neither did he see more drunken-
ness than on former occasions.

" It is quite true that the Sunday trains lead many
from the town churches ; but it is equally true that
many attend the churches in the country with their aged
parents, who were never able to do so before. Some of
these places of worship are those they attended in child-
hood."

He adds a comparison well worthy of the attention of
the Edinburgh guardians of working-class morality
" I have often contrasted Edinburgh and Glasgow
with London, Liverpool, and Birmingham. In the two
former places there is scarcely any opportunity afforded
the labouring classes to see the beauteous works of na-
ture in the country; but ample facility to waste their
time in public-houses, become drunkards, outcasts, and
ultimately food for the police. On many occasions I
have walked and rode about Edinburgh and the suburbs
on a Sunday evening, and counted no less than 60,
70, 80, and on one occasion 125 intoxicated persons, in
my perambulations of about three hours. Now, looking
at the latter places on a Sunday evening, you may see
hundreds returning from the country—some with their
wives and families—and scarcely one amongst them
the least intoxicated."

In reply to these and similar statements, Bailie Mack
and Bailie Duncan, the champions of Sabbatarian re-
strictions on their poorer neighbours, had little to urge
except that the council should think of the state of its
funds in reference to the expense of going before Par-
liament, and that the railway directors had done nothing
contrary to law. "If these gentlemen were wrong, they
were amenable to the laws of the country." .0h I Bailie
Mack, is there nothing wrong amongst us—nothing that
needs redress except what is done against the laws of
the country? Are all things to be endured which an
" action of declarator in the Court of Session" cannot
remove ? What do you suppose petitions to Parliament
were intended for, Bailie Mack? Really, most respec-
table of civic dignitaries—approver of things as they are,
and conservative of your own comforts and privileges,
whatever may happen to those of others—your right-
eousness savours more of the righteousness of the law
than of that which the Gospel enjoins.

SIR ROBERT PEEL'S NEW POR-
TRAIT GALLERY AT DRAYTON MANOR.
This magnificent gallery, which has been for some
time in course of erection, is now entirely completed ;
and has recently received within its walls a large
number of valuable historical portraits, which, added
to the chefs-d'ceuvre in that line of art previously in
the possession of Sir Robert Peel, render the col-
lection altogether one of the most remarkable in the
kingdom.
The gallery itself is attached to the south-east angle
of the mansion, and forms a wing 100 feet long in ex-
tension of the north front, the style of architecture being
of the Elizabethan period. An arcade extends along the
three sides of the building, and this is surrounded by an
entablature with an attic, upon which are small
carved pinnacles, which break the outline of the building.
The exterior is further decorated by four stone statues,
somewhat larger than life, the two towards the south
or garden front representing Rubens and Vandyke, and
the two towards the north representing Reynolds and
Lawrence. The gallery has no windows, but there is a
glazed sash door at the south-western extremity, which
leads on to a new terrace, about 160 feet long and 19 feet
wide, which is decorated with a stone balustrade, vases,
pedestals, &c. This terrace joins on to other terraces
surrounding three sides of the mansion, the whole of
which are embellished with a profusion of marble and
stone vases, &c., harmonising well with the building, and
supporting the character of its architecture.
The new gallery is entered from the south side of the
entrance corridor of the mansion, through an ante-room,
by wide folding doors of carved oak. The north end of
the gallery, which is first entered, is somewhat separated
from the main building by a spacious arch, richly or-
namented with carved oak pilasters, archivolts, pendants,
&c. Through this arch the visitor enters. The gallery
is divided into three compartments by groups of 16 mar-
ble colums and pilasters. The ceiling is deeply carved
and elaborately ornamented with the trusses, frets, pen-
dants, and panelling which characterised the Elizabethan
period. In the cove are thirty heraldic lions with
shields, bearing the initial letters of the names
of Sir Robert and Lady Peel and of their children ;
these lions are shaped as consoles supporting
the roof ; the spaces between them are panelled
with enrichments of foliage and fruit formed into
bands, the horizontal portion of the ceiling being tra-
beated and deeply panelled and ornamented with scrolls
and pendants. At the springing of the cove is an en-
riched entablature, which, with the cove and the whole
of the ceiling, is of various shades of oak and walnut-
tree wood. The walls are painted of a neutral greenish
colour, and the skirtings are of wainscot. The floor is
bordered with an inlaid band, of a small pattern, con-
sisting of oak, waltnut-tree and ebony woods. The co-
lumns and pilasters above alluded to are of the Doric
order. The capitals and bases are of white veined Ita-
lian marble ; the shafts each consist of a single block of
Belgian marble, of variegated colour. The pedestals are
panelled, and composed of the same marbles. The pic-
tures are lighted from above by horizontal skylights in
the roof, so placed that every part of each picture is ad-
vantageously seen from the proper points of view.
This recent addition to the mansion has been erected
from the design of Mr. Sydney Smirke, F.S.A. It was
finished at the close of last autumn.
The subjoined is a list of the principal portraits con-
tained in the gallery :
Viscount Hardinge, by Lucas.
Sir David Wilkie, by himself.
The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone by Lucas.
The Right Hon. Henry Goulburn, by Pickersgill.
'I he Right Hon. Sir James Graham, Bart., by Lucas.
The late Lord Abinger, by Sir Martin A. Shee, P.R.A.
The late Earl Grey, by Lonsdale. This full-length
portrait of the above statesman has been recently pur-
chased by Sir R. Peel of the widow of the artist.
The Earl of Aberdeen, by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
This picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy, in
1830, the year of Sir Thomas Lawrence's death.
The Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., by Sir Thomas
Lawrence.
Lady Peel, by Sir Thomas Lawrence ; a companion
picture.
The late Sir Robert Peel, Bart., by Sir Thomas Law-
rence.
Lord Lyndhurst, by Pickersgill.
The late Sir William Follett, by Say.
The late Lord Erskine, by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Lord Brougham: a most admirable likeness of the
Noble and Learned Lord.
Sir Frederick Pollock, by Say.
The Right Hon. Sir George Canning, by Sir Thomas
Lawrence.
Lord Stowell, by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
The Czar Peter : an original of that extraordinary
potentate.
The late Right Hon. William Huskisson, by Sir
Thomas Lawrence.
The Duke of Wellington, by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
A full-length, representing the Noble and Gallant Duke
standing on a raised ground, wearing a military cloak,
and having a tele scope in his hand. This portrait was
in the Royal Academy Exhibition in 1825.
The late Earl of Eldon, by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Edmund Burke, by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Judge Blackstone. This portrait of the above cele-
brated Judge was purchased by Sir Robert Peel the year
before last, at the sale at Castle Priory, the seat of Mr.
W. S. Blackstone, M.P., near Wallingford.
William Pitt, by Gainsborough.
Lord Stanley, by Say.
The late Earl of Liverpool, by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
His late Royal Highness the Duke of York, by Sir
William
Right Hon. Admiral Sir George Cockburn, by
Lucas.
Shakspere; an esteemed portrait of the immortal bard.
eocey.
The Rig
The late Lord Byron.
Southey, the poet, bySir Thomas Lawrence.
Cowley, the poet, by Sir Peter
Otway, the dramatist; this portrait was painted by Lely.
Mary Beale, a pupil of Sir Peter Lely.
Fuseli, by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Cuvier, by Pickersgill.
Samuel Rogers, the poet, by Lucas.
Mr. Wordsworth, the poet, by Pickersgill.
Benjamin West, the artist.
Vandyke, a portrait by himself.
Arthur Murphy
The late Sir Francis Chantry, by Jackson.
Gibson, the sculptor, by Geddes.
nolds.
Wycherley, the dramatic poet.
Professor Owen, by Piekersgill.
y, the dramatist, by Sir Joshua Rey.
Liebig. the celebrated chemist.
John Philip Kenable, by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
The late Sir Henry Halford, Bart., by Sir Martin A
Shee.
Dr. Buckland, by T. Philips, R.A.

THREEPENNY THEATRES.—The Lord Chamberlain
has intimated to the proprietors of these theatres in
England his determination to withdraw the licence from
them unless they raise the prices of admission-6d. being
the lowest price to be taken. We believe Mr. Miller, of
the Adel*, has received a similar notice ; at the same
time stating that the rise must take place on and after
the Ist of January next.—Glasgow Herald.

UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE.---In the night of Monday
week, the 14th inst., when the frost was most intense,
deep thunder was heard in this city, and the flashes of
lightning were extremely brilliant. We observe that the
same electrical phenomenon was noted at Shrewsbury
and Welshpool on the same night and early on Tuesday
morning. At the latter place the thunder was very
near, the report rapidly succeeding the flash.—Hereford
Journal.

GRAND BANQUET to MR. COBDEN

AT MALAGA.
The Spaniards appear unwearied in their enthusiastic
and hospitable reception of our distinguished country-
man Mr. Cobden. We Yesterday received an extraordi-
nary supplement of the yesterday received an extraordi-
nary supplement cf tho Avisador Malagueno, containing
a lengthy report of a grand festival held in Malaga, on
Monday, the 30th of November, in honour of the English
free-trader.

The scene of the banquet was the saloon of the new
and magnificent hotel, about to be opened in the so-
called Casa de Campo, a beautiful edifice on the eve of
completion. The saloon was adorned with the greatest
taste and elegance, beautiful draperies were suspended
from the walls, which were also graced by a multitude
of paintings by the first masters of the school of Seville,
representing the portraits of eminent men, especially
Spaniards. Three splendid lustres illuminated the apart-
ment. The staircases and the entrance of the building
were filled with vases of exquisite flowers and odoriferous
plants of all sorts.

The table was spread with the delicate taste which
distinguishes the committee appointed to superintend the
entertainment, consisting of Don Eduardo Delius, Don
Juan Giro, and Don Juan Clemens. Large China vases,
with flowers and fruits, and rich silver candelabra, were
profusely intermingled with a beautiful and elegant
service of plate, &c. The centre of the table displayed
a magnificent epergne.
The guests invited, it is needless to state, included all
the " notabilities " of Malaga, principally merchants,
and parties interested in trade. These gentlemen awaited
in a drawing•room the arrival of Mr. Cobden and Mr.
Salis Schwabe, who presented themselves at a quarter
before six o'clock. Mr. Cobden's entrance was saluted
by a fine military band, which struck up a piece of music
especially selected for the occasion.
The banquet was then served up. Don Enrique San-
doval, Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce,
presided ; and Senor Don Jose Hernandez, the treasurer
of the same institution, officiated as croupier. Mr. Cob-
den was seated on the right hand of the chairman, and
Mr. Schwabe on the left. The British Consul, Don Jose
Marin Garcia, Don Guillermo Mark (the father of the
English Consul), and Don Louis Mirasson, also occupied
conspicuous positions at the table. Covers had been
laid for 70, and very few of the parties invited failed to
appear. _ _

'The cloth having been withdrawn, the toasts of " The
Queen of Spain," and " The Queen of England," were
drunk with loyalty and enthusiasm. The Spanish band
played our beautiful national anthem on the announce-
ment of the latter toast.

The PRESIDENT then said--" I believe that I am the
interpreter of the sentiments of this assembly, and of
the agricultural and mercantile interests of my country,
in proposing a toast in honour of Mr. Cobden, M.P., the
distinguished leader of the English League."
The toast having been received with every demonstra-
tion of good feeling,
Mr. COBDEN, M.P., rose, and expressed himself as
follows (the English version of his speech was after-
wards rendered into Castilian by Don Francisco Crooke,
of Navarot):—Allow me, gentlemen, to manifest to you
the expression of my utmost gratitude for your affable
and cordial reception, which I attribute to your sympa-
thies with the principles with which my name is con-
nected, and not to my own personal merit. This ban-
quet, gentlemen, is a homage to freedom of trade, and
not to me, its humble advocate. By "freedom of trade,"
I understand the right of freely exchanging the products
of this beautiful country for those of the rest of the
world. I do not mean to signify by this that there ought
to be no custom-house duties for the purpose of creating
a revenue for the Government; but that these duties
ought not, in my opinion, to be imposed for the ex-
clusive benefit of classes or private individuals. In
one word, my ideas are not adapted to what
some call " protection," but what in England
we term " monopoly." It appears to me of the
greatest importance to be thus explicit in elucidating the
real meaning of my words, because it is a favourite de-
vice of our opponents to give a false interpretation to
our object and our motives. They confer upon them-
selves high-sounding names, assigning
very erroneous
ones to those who advocate free trade ; and, unfortu-
nately, there are too many who allow themselves to be
hallucinated by vague words and sounds. They call
their own system " the protection of national industry."
What is this that they call " protection ?" and how
does it operate ? An individual goes to the Govern-
ment, and says, " I bind myself to supply from Spain a
certain article, provided a law be
.passed prohibiting
every other merchant from selling it, although it may
be of better quality and far cheaper than my own." This
may certainly be very profitable to the individual, but it
involves spoliation far more than the protection of
public and general interests. The custom-house is
alienated from its legitimate object when it is made use
of for the purpose of rendering more lucrative the un-
dertaking of any private individual, and preventing others
from following the same trade. The sole and unique object
that can justify the creation of taxes and duties, is, as I have
said, the provision of a revenue orresources for the state.
This is the basis of all our present operations in England ;
and I ought to remind you, gentlemen, that we have put in
practice the principles of free trade, without waiting for
other, nations to do as much in our favour. In former times
our Government sent its Ministers to other countries to
enter with them into treaties of commerce ; but the tar-
diness of diplomatists is proverbial, and they never made
less progress than when they attempted to arrange with
each other reciprocal concessions in their respective
tariffs. In truth, they only succeeded in exciting much
envy and many suspicions, which real ded the progress
and development of sound commercial principles. We,
nevertheless, declared when we formed our League in
England, that every country ought to regulate its tariffs
without regarding those of other nations. We repudiate
the propriety of making commercial treaties, and we take
this question entirely out of the hands of diplomatists.
Sir Robert Peel pursued these principles. and did not
leave his successors the opportunity of forming special
treaties of commerce with other Governments. Hence-
forward no English diplomatist will ever be able to enter
into any negotiations with a Spanish Minister for a treaty
of commerce. In this manner, those who advocate free
trade in Spain, see themselves placed in a much more ad.
vantageous position, being able to promote their principles
by means of the absence of all foreign interference in the
contest. In future, then, you cannot be accused of advo-
cating the interests of England ; on the contrary, you
can point out the example of that very nation, which has
already put in practice the principles of free trade, and
which will adhere to them, whatever may be the policy
adopted by the Government of Spain or that of any
other nation. I need not repeat, gentlemen, what I
have so frequently shown elsewhere, that the progress
of the principles of free trade in this country depends
entirely on the enlightenment of the people. If you
desire to present, and to further sound opinions upon
this or any other question,
you ought to promote its
discussion,—(Applause.)
I doubt not that, after ma-
ture reflection upon a matter of so much interest, the
people of Spain will come to the same conclusion as my
countrymen. They will be convinced, as we are, that
free trade promises to all nations the greatest possible
amount of prosperity, wellbeing, and felicity ; they will
view it, like ourselves, as the presage of peace between
nations ; this magic word peace expresses in 1,000 ways
the progress of humanity and civilisation ; and they
will see, with us, that the dearest interests of the great
family of the human race are involved in our principles!
—(Prolonged applause.) When the Spanish nation has
had opportunities of a trank and full discussion of our
principles, I am sure that it will place itself in the van-
guard of the nations who may unfurl the standard of
commercial liberty. I will conclude, gentlemen, by
proposing " The prosperity of the city of Malaga."
Don JOBE HERNANDEZ replied to Mr. Cobden's speech
in complimentary terms, and Said:—lt were much to be
desired that in our unhappy country, where abuses
abound and flourish, the real meaning of free trade could
be better understood, since many are terrified by the
idea that the frontiers are about to disappear, and,
that there being no duties to pay, the direct taxes
will be increased in order to maintain the revenues of
the state, and that the native manufacturing establish-
ments will be ruined. Free trade, gentlemen, at least
as I desire it, is that nothing may be prohibited and
that the duties may be moderate, as the only means
of abolishing smuggling and increasing consumption.
Spain ought to be more interested than any other na-
tion in the reduction of duties, since our products will
reap the advantage of it in foreign countries. Let us,
therefore, recommend our illustrious guest not to forget
Malaga in his continual efforts to obtain mercantile
freedom, which will more and more unite the interests
of all nations, averting disastrous wars, like those under
which we have suffered. Let us drink a toast, gen-
tlemen, in gratitude to Mr. Cobden and his fellow-
traveller.
Many more speeches were made in the course of the
evening by Mr. Schwabe and the Spanish gentlemen
present. After taking coffee, &c., Mr. Cobden and his
friends retired at halt-past ten o'clock, infinitely satis-
fied with their cordial reception.

MADAME BISHOP.—This charming vocalist took
her farewell on Wednesday night in the character of
'spline, in the Maid of Artois. The effect produced by
her charming voice and finished style was never more
striking. The most rapturous applause was elicited by
her interpretation of all the well-known morceaux : she
was frequently encored, and, at the fall of the curtain,
was called for, cheered, and complimented with several
bouquets.
THE CONDE DE MONTEMOLIN.—The Conde de
Montemolin returned to town on Thursday evening from
a visit to the Earl of Carnarvon at Highclere, his Lord-
ship's seat in Hampshire. In the course of this visit the
Conde de Montemolin shot over the beautiful preserves
of his noble host, and enjoyed excellent sport. The
Conde was everywhere received with the most hearty
respect and enthusiasm. His amiable and condescend-
ing manners endeared him to all with whom he came in
contact, and be left amidst general expressions of
affectionate regret. The Conde de Montemolin, after
attendieg divine service yesterday, received and paid
several visits; amongst the visitors were the Earl of
Lonsdale, the Marquis de Barbancois, Lieutenant-
Colonel J. S. North, Mr. J. A. St. John, Mr. M. D.
Talbot, &c.
POST-OFFICE NOTlCE.—Yesterday notice was
issued at the General Post office, St. Martin's-le Grand,
that the mails for Madeira, Lisbon, Vigo, Oporto, Cadiz,
Madrid, and Gibraltar, appointed to be dispatched on the
morning of the 27th instant, would not be forwarded
till the morning of the 28th instant, to be conveyed by
the mail steamer Madrid. Letters in time on Monday

morning.
A CHRISTMAS FAlR.—Yesterday there was a fair
of some magnitude held on a piece of ground situate be-
tween St. George's Church and the Bricklayers' Arms,
Kent-road. There is a theatre, circus, a number of
shows, and Van Amburgh, s performing animals. This
portion was, however, closed yesterday ; but the swing?,
round-abouts, ariel machines, and fancy stalls, were in
great request, notwithst.
ianding the coldness of the, day,
by the numbers who visaed t.

THE CHRISTMAS CAROL.
" Then came the merry maskers in,
And carols roared with blithesome din;
It nninelodious was the song,
It was a hearty note and strong."
SIR WALTER SCOTT.
The word " carol" is said to bc, derived from the
Latin cantare, to sing, and rola, an interjection of joy.
By some writers, however, it is supposed to be of Ita-
liad, and by others of French, extraction; its meaning
is, generally, a song of mirth and exultation, especially
of religious joy. The " Christmas Carol," in particular,
is a song in celebration of our blessed Lord's nativity.
This kind of pious ballad is undoubtedly of very remote
origin. Bishop Jeremy Taylor, in his " Great Exem-
plar," fancifully remarks that the first Christmas carol
was the hymn of the angels to the shepherds in the
plains of Bethlehem :—" Glory to God in the highest, on
earth peace, good will to men." Milton, also, in Para-
dise Lost, thus mentions the same anthem:—
" His place of birth a solemn angel tells
To simple shepherds keeping watch by night;
They gladly thither haste, and by a choir
Of squadron'd angels hear His carol sung."

This hymn was introduced at an early period into
the services of the Church, being sung either at Morn-
ing Prayer, or in the Communion Office, or before the
Lessons on Christmas Day. In process of time, other
hymns of the same kind appear to have been formed
after its example ; and it is stated by the celebrated
ritualist Duraudus, that anciently bishops were accus-
tomed, on the above festival, to " sing carols among
their clergy" in the cathedrals.
In a Latin poem, written about the middle of the
fifteenth century, and soon after translated into Eng-
lish, the following allusion to the practice of carolling in
church at Christmas occurs :

" A wooden child is on the altar set,
About the which both boys and girls do dance and trimly jet ;
And carols sing in praise of Christ, and for to help them here,
The organs answer everyverse with sweet and solemn cheer."

The" Christmas carol," however, was not confined to
the Church offices in medieval times. "It has been the
custom," says a modern writer, " for the common people
of England for many centuries to go about in bands, at
an early hour on Christmas morn, serenading their
neighbours with what are called 'carols.' " Such also
was the usage in other parts of Christendom. " During
the season of Advent," remarks Mr. Digby, " the waits,
while other men took their rest, wandered, singing
hymns in the streets ; and on the blessed night every
one kept watch like the shepherds, while minstrels
chanted Christmas carols." In these ancient poems the
inhabitants of each town and village used to be repre-
sented making the offering of whatever best object they
possessed to the infant Saviour and the blessed Mother.
These ditties even gladdened the festivals of royalty.
Henry VIL, in the third year of his reign, kept his
Christmas at Greenwich ; on the twelfth night, after
high mass, the king went to the hall, and kept his estate
at the table; in the middle sat the dean and those of the
king's chapel, who, immediately after his Majesty's first
course, " sang a carall." The earliest collection of
Christmas carols supposed to have been published, is
only known from the last leaf of a volume, printed by
Wynkin de Worde in 1521. " These," says Brand,
" were festal chansons fur enlivening the merriments of
the Christmas celebrity; and not such religious songs as
are current at this day with the common people, under
the same title, and which were substituted by those
enemies of innocent and useful mirth, the Puritans."
We differ from the above antiquary in reference to the
puritanical origin of the " religious" Christmas carols
"current at this day." Many of them appear to be even
of earlier date than the Reformation; and, since the
Precisions, as is well known, hated Christmas Day as
Popish and anti-Christian, and abolished its observance
wherever their influence extended, it is most improbable
that they should have composed songs for its celebra-
tion. Be this as it may, the majority of the medieval
Christmas carols were " religious." Some of these, in
a more or less interpolated and modernised state, have
been handed down to us, and though, perhaps, wanting
in interest to a refined mind, are sometimes admirable
for their simplicity and tenderness. Take for example
the ensuing stanzas from that quaint old ditty, begin-
ning—

" Joseph was an old man, an old man was he,
And he married Mary, Queen of Galilee,"

which was sung by companies of little children at Christ-
mas, and which " brings fairly before us the paintings of
the old masters, where Joseph is always represented as
so old a wan, and Mary sits in the oxen's stall with her
crown on her head."

" As Joseph was a walking, he hard an angel sing—
This night shall be born our heavenly king;
He neither shall be born in houses nor in hall,

Nor in the place of Paradise, but in an ox's stall;

He neither shall be clothed in purple nor in pall,
But all in fine linen, as were babies all ;
He neither shall be rock'd in silver nor in gold,
But in a wooden cradle that rocks on the mould;
He neither shall be christen'd in white wine or in red,
But with the spring water with which we were christened.'
How sweet, again, are the following lines, which en-
rich another antique carol:—
" 0 fair, 0 fair Jerusalem ! when shall I come to thee,
When shall our griefs be at an end? Thy joys when shall
we see ?

The fields were green as green might be, when, from His
glorious seat,
The Lord our God He watered us with His heavenly dew
so sweet."

These words could only have been written by one
fully conversant with the ritual of the Western Church.
They are adapted from her Advent service. Very
melodious to our ears is the rhythm of the carol be-
ginning with " I saw three ships come sailing on," and
containing the verses which follow:
" And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas-day, on Christmas-day;
And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas-clay 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."
Our space will not admit of our giving to our readers
any more specimens of the simple Christmas carols
which animated the devotion of our pious ancestors. We
will now offer a few remarks on those early " feste-chan-
sons" which were merely intended to be incitements
to Christmas revelry. Perhaps the most interest-
ing of those extant is an Anglo-Norman carol of the
thirteenth century. It is too long for insertion here, but
it gives a very interesting picture of the gaiety and kindly
feeling which the festival of the Nativity appears to
have excited among all classes, and dwells with much
satisfaction on the long list of Christmas dainties, and
the profusion of rich wines. Another of these secular
carols was discovered in a MS. of the times of Henry
VI. The song itself, however, from the style and
spelling, may be assigned to a century earlier. "It
seems," says Miss Lawrence, " to be sung in the week
before Christmas, when the household maidens all
busied themselves with dressing up the halls and cham-
bers with evergreens. The great hostility expressed to-
wards ivy may be accounted for by the circumstance of
its being used at funerals." A few lines of this carol in
modern orthography may not be uninteresting here:—

" Nay, Ivy ! nay, it shall not be, I wis ;
Let Holly have the mastery, as the manner is.
Let Holly stand within the hall, fair to behold ;
Let Ivy stand without the door ; she is full sore a-cold.
Nay, Ivy ! &c.
Holly and his merry men deftly dance and sing;
Ivy and her maidens are always sorrowing.
Nay, Ivy! &c.

Holly hath berries, is red as any rose,
Gay-looking to the hunter, as through the wood he goes;
Ivy, too, hath berries, but black as any sloe ;
Thither come the owls, and eat them as they go.
Nay, Ivy l" &c.

The Reformation did not impair the popularity of the
Christmas carol in England. A writer in 1631, in his
description of a good and hospitable housekeeper, has
left the following picture of Christmas festivities : " Sup-
pose," he says, "Christmas now approaching ; the ever
green ivy trimming and adorning the portals and part-
e:oyes of so frequented a building ; the usual carols to
observe antiquity, cheerfully sounding ; and that which
is the complement of his inferior comforts, his neigh-
bours, whom he tenders as members of his own family,
join with him in this consort of mirth and melody." At
the end of a " Miscellany of Epigrams, &c." published
about the same period, is a " Christmas carol," which
contains a recital of the pastimes in vogue at that season.
This, and similar compositions of the seventeenth cen-
tury, make, however, no pretension to any religious cha-
racter ; but, in the mean time, others also, of a devo-
tional strain, were in general use. Wharton mentions a
license, granted to one Tysdale in 1562, for printing cer-
tain goodly carols to be sung to the glory of God ;'
and again, " Christmas carols authorised by my Lord of
London." Bishop Andrewes, in one of his sermons on
the Nativity, preached on the twentieth-fifth of Decem-
ber, 1619, celebrates the day as " glorious in all place, as
well at home with carols as in the church with anthems."
From the time of the famous prelate just mentioned to
our own, the practice of singing Christmas carols in this
kingdom has been preserved; " varying probably in
circumstances and degrees, but dispersed, more or less,
over the different parts of the country." In Heath's
" Account of the Scilly Islands," he says that it is usual
there to sing carols on Christmas day at church. Dr.
Goldsmith, in his " Vicar of Wakefield," writing about
1763, and " laying the scene of his narrative at a small
cure in the north of England," relates that, among other
customs which they retained, the inhabitants "keep up
the Christmas carol." Brand, in 1795, remarks that little
troops of boys and girls, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and
other places in the north of England, " go from house
to house, knocking at the doors, singing their Christmas
carols, and wishing a happy new-year." A writer in
1811, describing the manner in which the inhabitants of
the North Riding of Yorkshire celebrate Christmas, ob-
serves, " About six o'clock on Christmas day I was
awakened by ", sweet singing under my window; sur-
prised at a visit so early and unexpected, I arose; and
looking out of the window, I beheld six young women
and four men, welcoming with sweet music the blessed
morn." " Carols," writes Mr. Hone, in 1825, " begin
to be spoken of as not belonging to thiscentury, and few
perhaps are aware of the number of these now printed."
He adds that he possesses " upwards of ninety, all at this
time published annually." Mr. Howitt, in 1838, remarks,
that the Christmas carols which were sung about from
door to door, for a week at least, not twenty years ago,
are rarely heard now in the midland counties. More
northward, from the hills of Derbyshire, and the bor-
dering ones of Staffordshire, up through Lancashire,
Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Durham, you may fre-
quently meet with them. The custom of Christmas
carolling prevails in Ireland to the present time. In
Scotland it is unknown. In Wales it is still preserved,
to a greater extent, perhaps, than in England. After