The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1832-12-25 00:00:00

CHRISTMAS.

ANTIPATHIES.—What an unaccountable medley of Strength
and weakness is man ! Lord Bacon, it is said, fell back inani-
mate at the occurrence of an eclipse. The astute and erudite
Erasmus was alarmed at the sight of an 'apple. Bayle, the
great lexicographer, swooned at. the noise made by some water
as it escaped, drop by drop, from a cock. Henry of France,
the third of that name, though he had driven his enemies be-
fore him at Jarnac, trembled, from head to foot, at the sight of
a cat. When a hare crossed the celebrated Duke d'Epernon's
path, his blood stagnated in his veins. The masculine-minded
iNlary of Medicis fainted away whenever a nosegay was in
sight. A shudder overcame 'the learned Scaliger on perceiving
tresses. Ivan the Second, Czar of Muscovy, would faint away
on seeing a woman; and Albert, a brave Field-Marshal of
France, fell insensible to the ground, on discovering a sucking
pig served up at his own table!—Atlieneeum.
A DEAR PENNYWORTH.—At the sale by Messrs. Sotheby
and Son, on Thursday, of the property of the late Mr. William
Knight, F. S. A. Assistant Architect and Superintendent to
the new London Bridge, among other articles were several
morceaux of antiquity, found during the removal of the old
bridge, some of which realized extraordinary prices. A penny
of Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury, (very. rare,) £4 Is.,
being nine hundred and seventy-two times its intrinsic value.
—A beautiful carved box, made of the wood of the " Sleepers,"
of the ancient bridge (an engraved inscription inside,) £2 19s.
A plain ditto, with silver plate on the lid, £2 17s. Henry
Vlll.—Half sovereign (amulet mint mark,) £4. The lower
jaw and three other bones, of Peter of Cole Church, the
original architect of London Bridge, found on removing the
foundation of the ancient chapel, 7s.
SHOWER OF FIRE.-LA singular phenomenon presented itself
lately in some parts of France, particularly in the department
of Orne, in the neighbourhood of Argentan. Several times, and
during two whole hours, the atmosphere, which was calm, be-
came filled with an innumerable quantity of vivid sparks, form-
ing a sort of shower of fire. The appearance was most striking
between 4 and 5 o'clock in the morning. The same pheno-
menon was witnessed about Caen, where, however, it excited
less apprehension than at Argentan, in which place the inha-
bitants were under the greatest terror. It is said that in some
places the sparks were seen to alight upon the ground; but no
traces of them have any-where been found, and it is probable
that the phenomenon really took place in the upper regions,
the appearance of having descended being most likely an opti-
cal illusion. Medical Gazette.

We hail with great delight the approach of the festival of
Christmas. It is a happy period of the year, and one which
brings with it some of the most pleasing recollections of our
life. Every thing that relates to the season is calculated to
make a deep and lasting impression on the young mind. The
inspiring declaration of the 'glad tidings of great joy which shall
be to all people ; the affecting account of the lowly birth and
glorious welcome of the new-born &nig; and then, the proof'
of heartfelt joy among friends, and in families—the glad 0"
change of kind wishes—the cheerful liberality to humbler pea"
ple—the comforts of a peaceful fireside :—these are the thing
which each succeeding Christmas happily renews to many, 10'1"
a relish confined to no particular time of life. The child le'
joices in Chritsmas ; and, in addition to the pleasure of the
passing hour, he has some holiday before him. The father re'
joices in Christmas; although the mirth of former days mai
have given place to the more quiet feelings of rational and stag' fastjoy, upon the occasion of such an anniversary. And wha
shall doubt that the old rejoice in Christmas ? Surely to sae
those around them, and those a step or two below them in age,
smiling, and happy, is a happiness to the old—not to mentio.n
that especial source of happiness opened to them in the event
commemorated at this season, to the contemplation of which' whose years are leaving them, may turn with increase
comfort and joy.
As nothing which relates to the observance of this festival
can be out of place at the present time, we shall lay before our
readers an account of some of the ancient Christmas custom''
On Christmas-eve, as soon as it was dark, candles of au nn-
common size, called Christmas candles, were lighted up, and.l
log.of wood called YULE Lon, or Christmas block, was
upon the fire, to illuminate the house, and as it were, to turn
night into day. Yule is supposed to mean Christmas. Falvey
was common on this eve for supper. It consisted of boiled Olt'
mixed with milk, plenty of sugar, &t. The candle, the yule,
and the furmety, are kept up in some parts of the country, Par"
ticularly Yorkshire, at this day. The burning out a podderolla
ashen faggot is still observed in some of the farm-housesLP
Devonshire. A foolish notion formerly prevailed, that, on Lo"
eve, oxen knelt in their stalls and moaned.
There appear to have been many whimsical customs belong'
ing to different countries and to various parts of this count*
on Christmas-eve, a full account of which would be tedious
we there Tore proceed to describe some of those of Cnitisili*
DAY.

DEATH of DR. SPURZHEIM.—This distinguished phrenolo-
gist died at Boston, in America, in November, of typhus
fever. He had been lecturing in the city, and a demonstration
of re9iect for his memory was projected by the citizens. He
was in the 57th year of his age.—Atlas.—SPUßZHEisi is dead:
his own skull will now stand on his own theory. 'He will lecture
no longer, but be lectured aver; and his successor will be able
to point out the bump of phrenology at any rate, if there is
one. To this complexion we must all come at last. As we
have seen SpußzHEim turn round the polished ivory of some
illustrious unknown, the irreverend idea has often occurred to
us,. that his turn would came at length. Of course he has
bequeathed his head to his own collection; and his successor
next year, at the Crown and Anchor rooms, will garnish his
address with an apostrophe to the mortal remains of the great
master's cranium.—Spectator.
MR. WOLFF, THE MisssioNaast.—Letters from Simiah have
been received in. Calcutta, which mention that Mr. Wolff, the
well-known Missionary, has arrived at Peshawur, having
travelled alone, it is said from Arabia. The route he has pur-
sued is not, described, but he has encountered all kinds of
dangers and sufferings. He has been made a slave, has been
repeatedly plundered and stripped—has otherwise undergone
great personal hardships, and has finally reached Peshawur in
a state of great destitution. He has been expected in that
quarter for some time past, and Runjeet Singh has. directed
every attention to be .shown to him. Letters had been received
from him at Loodiana, requesting a suit of clothes, and the
Governor-General, we learn, has invited him to Simiah. The
object of his present journey is understood to be the discovery
of the tribes of Israel, ' who were carried away captive, and
whose descendants are supposed still to exist as a separate and
independent people in some of the yet unexplored regions of
Asia. According to • the sacred Historian, they were
placed by the Assyrian King " in Halah and in Habor, by
_the
river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medef." Mr. Wolff, it
is said, purposes to visit Thibet, ' Japan, and Timbuctoo,
taking Calcutta in his way ! If he were not a fanatic, the
world might expect some advantage from the spirit of wander-
ing by which he appears to be possessed. But, fanatic or not,
all, we are sure, who have, the means and the opportunity will
readily unite in relieving his wants. At present •he appears to
be in good hands.—lndian Gazette.
IRISH Tticoramv.—The following harangue is supposed to
be delivered on the night before Christmas by 'an itinerant
vender of Christmas carols.—lt is among the extracts frOm a
second series of " Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry,"
given in a late number of the Athenceum :—" Good Christians—
This, is the day—howandive,r, it's night now—that the angel
Lucifer appeared to Shild'orth, Meeshach, an'To-bed-we-go, in
the village of Constantinople, near Jerooslem. The - heavens
be praised for it, 'twas a blessed an' holy.-night, an' remains so
from that day -to this—Oxis doxis glorioxis, Amin ! Well: the
sarra °he of him but appeared to thim at 'the hour o' midnight
but they.were asleep at the time, you see, anddidn't persave
him- So wid that he pulled out a horn like mine—an', by the
same token, it 's lucky to wear.horns about one, from that day
to this—an' he put it to 'his lips, an'tzick a good dacent—l
mane, gave a good dacent blast that soon • roused them. ' Are
yees asleep ?' says he, when they awoke; ' why then, bud-an-
age! says he, ':isn't it a burning shame for able stout fellows
like yees to ,be asleep at the hour o' midnight of all hours
o' the night. Tare-an-age!' say_ei he, ' get up wid yees, you
dirty spalpeens ! Theses St. Pathrick in Jerooslem beyant ;
the Pope's signin his mittimus to Ireland to bless it in regard
that neither corn, nor barely, nor phaties, will grow on the land
in.quensequence- of a. set a varmint that ates it up; an' there's
not a glass of whiskey to be had in Ireland for love or money,'
says Lucifer, * ! * And now says he, ' bekase you wor so
heavy-headed, I ordher it from this out, tha,t the present night
is to be observed in the Catholic Church all over the world; an'
1111Isthe kept holy; an no thrue Catholic ever will miss from
this pariod an opportunity of bein' awake at midnight,' says
he. An' now good Christians, you have- an.account o' the
blessed carol I was siugin' for yees. They're but hapuns
a-piece; an' anybody that has the grace to keep one o' these
about them will never 'meet wid sudden deaths or accidents,
such as hangin' ,or. drownin, or bein' taken suddenly wid a con-
figguration inwardly."
MODERN INFIDELITY.—Modern infidelity is a soil as barren
of great and sublime virtues, as it is prolific in crimes. By, great
and sublime virtues are meant; those which are called into action
on great and trying occasions, which demand the sacrifice of
.the dearest interests And prospects of human life, and sometimes
of life itself; the virtues, in a word, which, by their rarity and
sPlendour, draw admiration, and have rendered illustrious the
character of patriots, martyrs, and confessors. It requires but
little reflection to perceive, that whatever veils a future world,
and contracts the limits of existence within the present life,
must tend, in a proportionable degree, to diminish the grandeur,
and'narrow the sphere, of human agency. As well might you
'expect exalted sentiments of justice from a professed gamester,
-as look for noble principles in the man whose hopes and fears
are all suspended on the present moment, and who stakes the
whole happiness of his being on the events of this vain and
fleeting life. If he be ever impelled to the performance of great SHORT POPULAR BELGIAk CaTcwaisst.—Where. al'? *4'
achievements in a good cause, it must be solely by the hope of ministers? No where.—And the King ? Travelling----p.
fame; a motive which, besides, that it makes virtue the servant the Belgian army ? In barracks.—And 'the constitution A.
of opinion, usually grows weaker at the approach of death : and dozen articles may yet be shown, the rest are effaced. i 2;01
which, however it may surmount the love of existence in the the national independence ? We have 60,000 :French.
heat of battle, or in the moment of public observation, can sel- wait for 10J,000 Prussians.—And our trade?, The,sea.porYi .0
of
dom be expected to operate with much force on the retired blockaded.2—And commerce ? Antwerp is on the poln,i tie:.
duties of a private station. In affirming' that infidelity is un- being liornbarded.—And our finances ? Debts, loans, an'. ro-
favourable to the higher class of virtues, we are supported as ficit, such is the - clear state of our prosperity.—What has P.,
well by facts as by reasoning. We should be sorry to loadiour cured for, you, all those fine things combined ?, RevolutiQiiii to
What does revolution mean ?--It means a change from ad ia
,adversaries with unmerited reproach; but to what history, to
what record, will they appeal for. the traits of' moral greatness good, when the people were in distress, as has'happeli'v.--
exhibited by their discoaes ? Where.shall we look for the tro- trance; and •frona good to evil, as has occured in Belgia,',os
phies of infidel magnanimity, or atheistibal virtue ? Not that How do you console: yourself ? With the Jesuits.—Wl;4`ocl!
we mean to accuse them of inactivity ; they have, recently Ailed Jesuit? Jesuits are a very good sort of men, whom the irt'ficq
the world with the fame of their exploits; exploits of a different banish from their own country, and for whom they seer„ I
'kind, indeed, but of' imperishable memory and disastrous lustre. themselves in ours.—Why have you effected your reyolut7ol;
Though it is confessed, great and splendid actions are not the Because. the inhabitants Of Loochristi were forbidden to kpit
ordinary employmeht, of life, but must, from their nature, be French, AL Van de Velde was not. Governor. of. Ghent,' ank $
'
reserved for 'high and eminent occasions ' yet that system is I\l. Lebeau required ten hundred thousand Isaacs to be wotr.s!
essentially defective which leavys no room for their production, million.—What is the name of the King of the BeltP%l
They are amp.ortarit, both for their immediate advantage and Le Comte d'Aerschot.—What is the reverse of a revolupost
their renioter influence. 'They.often saVe, and always illustrate, A restoration.—What does a-restoration mean ? The gra iogs
the age and nation in which ' they appear. They raise the • of
.eyils when rexolution was, legitimate; the. greatot 414. ial
standard of morals; they arrest the progress of degeneracy ; when revolution was founded on absurdity.—ln wbat ~Prian-oco
they diffuse a lustre over the path of life; monuments of the , you place your's ? In the absurd class.—How man}' alnes ad
greatness of the ' huntan soul, they present to the world the Lour government rely upon ? Two ; France for ottice, ill
august image of virtue in her subhmest form, from which England. for importatiou.—How , trimly provinces are ther,o•t,i
streams of light and glory issue to remote times and ages ; ' Belgium ? Nkne by the .caustitutipu, aryl sixaeeorshitid-
while their commemoration, by the pen of historians and poets, ministerial will. How many kinds of liberty ? Three ac.`cioei;
awakens in distant 'bosoms the sparks of kindred excellence, ing to the constitution; liberty of the press, reli(rious freehou4:
Combine the frequent and familiar perpetration of -atrocious ' and ihdividal liherty„ each according to law oral'the Cat kre
deeds with, thedearth of great and, generous actions, and you , church.—Do you regret the old regime '? Very reuch• ;o
have the exact picture of that condition of society which cow- you a Carlist ? Not at all.—What difference is there bens it. 4
pletes the degradation of the species : the frightful contrast of you and a Carlist ? A Carlist reqpiies the pasfoii account °il-
dwarfikh virtues and gigantic vices; where every thing hood is : darkness, aIIA:WR require the p,ist INeause we then saw Clear ~.f.
mean andiittle, and everTthing evil rank.and luxuria.n,t; adead , —Will y9llr revo.tutio.h`,be lasilog ? . .14 onstey do uot live "'-'',.
and sickening- uniformitY Prevails,-brokeMonly,,at intervaihby —Hew Many divine-tlituei am there. in piilitici ? Chic 0111/'
volcanic eruptions of anarchy and crime.—Robert WI. Name it. Itope.—Messager de Gantt.

The Yule or Christmas feast, is of great antiquity. The lord'
kept the feast of Christmas chiefly with their King. B a rolls
feasted the whole 'country, and a whole boar was sometime'
put on the table, richly gilt, by way of brawn. But it ivas,t'
soused Boar's head which was carried to the principal table ri
the hall, with great solemnity, as the first dish on Christy:l'w
day. DUGDALE, speaking of this day, as observed at the Inge'.. Temple, says, "Service in the church ended, the gentlerne°
presently repair into the hall to breakfast, with brawn, mustart
and malmsey." And at dinner, "At the first course is served
a fair and large boar's head, upon a silver platter, with inin•
strelsy." At one of the feasts, mention is made of "a slniPPci,
of silver for an almes dish." The Christmas pie- of mince,
meat, and various sweet ingredients, was formerly made in trPcei
form of a cratch, or cradle. The bakers, at this season, use'
to present their customers with the yule-dough, and pot,
images, as the chandlers gave Christmas candles. Plurn-0i
ridge was also usual. In the north of England yule-cakes are
Still made.
We now come to Christmas-carols. The word carol tnal'ib!
derived from a Greek word, signifying joy. It was, probaDtg;
an imitation of the hyrdn sung by the arigels, which; as 8i0„.°,,'
Taylor observes, was the oldest Christmas carol.—,, Gtoia
GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOOD-4I
TOWARD MEN."

It was usual, in the ancient feasts, to single out a pal.,
and "place him in the midst, to sing a kind of carol to Go at
We need scarcely add that the custom of singing carols, B:ci
Christmas, still prevails all over England: and, although a fa
may be good, yet some of those carols put forth under the he
a
of Divine Mirth, are wanting, not only in piety, but in go"n-
sense.

The following anecdote, given by a clergyman, describing Oe„,
practice of singing at this season in Devonshire, may be th
teresting. "The first time of my coming to live in this Parl, "
lin the South Hams of Devon,) happened to be Christmas c‘l
n the middle of the night; I was suddenly awoke by the sweeter
music I think I ever'heard. It was the sound of many vaicesto'
accompanied by instruments, all in . I soon began
t
account for this most agreeable interruption of my night's res;
and concluded that it was a Christmas carol, or hymn, to vc:cit
come in the glorious and happy morning. The music, whir
had been under my window, gradually died away; and, ,
a pause, I heard it again, but more fa.intly, from a distalice,
On the following (Christmas) morning, on attending to Peo'r
form the service, I recognised, to my surprise, in the choir
the church, the same voices, singing the same hymn, beginnirl;
'Hark, the herald angels sing. The circumstance made,',
impression upon me, which it would be difficult to remove.
Nor must we pass by the ancient custom of DECKING
and private dwellings with evergreens- Itlhas been thought, ce
some, to have been adopted in order to record_ the ciremnstao:
of the people cutting down branches from the trees, and strai
ing them in the way, crying, "HOSANNA' TO TDB Sot' 41
DAVID!" Others have considered it merely a sign or spite
of gladness: and, when we thus look at the laurel, misleteek
and bright-berried holly, 'green and flourishing in the deßtlipoS
winter, when.other plants have departed with the summer aid
autumn, a very natural emblem it seems. Again, it has
the
said, thati evergreens were used, the laurel being, artionot, in
Romans, the emblem of joy, peace, and victory; and
the Christian sense, it may be jestiy applied to the story
e•ained over the powers of darkness by the coming
I'
he misletoe, which is also a part of Christmas deeorations,ecist
supposed to have been adopted in consequence of the roller
paid to it by the Druids.
st
Stow (in his Survey of London) says, that "against the fa
of Christmas, every man's honse, as also their parish churcbc!"
were decked with bOlme, ivy, bays, and- whatsoever the season
of the year affirded to be green. 'l he conduits and stauditt
in the streets were also garnished in the-same manner."
In a curious tract, published about a hundred and thirty
since, entitled, " Round about our Coal-Fire, or, Christmas
tertainments," -is , the: following, passage :,—"The rooms Or
embowered with holly, ivy, cypress, bays, laurel, and mislete7
and a bouneingChristmas log in the ehininey."—Gay has au
allusion to the subject:—
When rosemary and bays, the poet's crown,
Are bawl'd in frequent cries through all the town,
Then judge the festival of Christmks near,
Christmas, the joyous period of the' year !
Now with bright holly all the temples strove,
With laurel green, and sacred misfetoe.
Christmas presents appear to have been very general. Among
others, we find-gifts of toys, clothes, fruit; Sr.c., presented bY
rents to their children in honour of the day. To these
rod was frequently added, that they might be more easily g;,
verned, by the, prospect of correction, in the event of the'
doing wrong.
Christmas sports were various, according to the humour -till
of veisrist..
taste of the people. Morris-dancers and Mummers are sore
found in some parts of the country ; but their perfornsancesdsy
probably like those of ancient days, in name only.—,Sato
-
Magazine.