The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1852-12-25
CHRISTMAS DAY.


The editor Of newspaper is always expect
ea, Of course, 10 say something about Christ
mas as he is about the 4th of July, the 22l OF
February, aud other days Of general or ma
1ionaI lestisity. We bow TO the general wish,
though what 10 say, or how 10 say, we know
not ior the life o!uS. As for suggesting any
rev idea upon subject so hackneyed, tha, of
course, cannot be expected. We were born
many centuries TOO late for that, and we find
ourselves anticipated which way soeyer we
furn. II we wish 10 treat it us s0gt OF annual
Sabbath, il has been thus treated by thousands
and tens of thousands before Us. Besides, we
verv much fear that large majority OF the
On. istian world look upon it in the light rath-
e. OF festival, and keep it as such. DO we
desire 10 sneak oft rs a sort of SGtGrn0iia, in
which everybody may say and do what they
please. we fluid that we are still saying what
has often been said before. tits, in truth,an old
bot not obsolete idea az often treated, but by
no means hread-bart subject.
We suspect there is much in the old line,
NY mind to me a kingdom is" and each re-
curing Christmas confirms US the more strong
~ in the suspicion. We feel ourselves uncon-
scously asking the question OF ourselves, Why
is ittha; Christmas is not so merry as it used
10 be : We cannot bat suspect that the true
solution Of the enigma is to be found in the
state of that Kingdom to which we have allu-
ded. The mind is not what it used TO be -
The gloss of life, the freshness of existence
have been rubbed off. We no longer see the
world through the same medium. Use, time,
suffering, the gradual decay Of feeling, the
consciousness that we are not what we used TO
be- but too soon divorce the MIND from its ha-
bit of relying on external things for gratiica-
lion or excitemen', and sends it 10 the resour-
ces which itse f has prepared.
There's not " the world can give,
Like that 1t takes away
We believe there never was q human being
who did not feel the necessity Of depending
upon the resources of his own mind for happi-
ness, grow more and more urgent, with every
step that takes him forward on his journey, af
ter he has turned his back upon the golden
paradise of his youth.
he, that grown aged in this world Of woe
IL deeds not years piercing the depths Of lie,
= D tGat no wonder waits On MIN below.
Nor more can sorrOW ", fame. ambition, stri te,
Pierce to his soul again witt the keen knife
o. silent sharp endurance he can tell
Why thought takes refuge in lone carerns rife
With airy images, and saapes that dwell
4. amin paired, though old, IL the souls haunted
cell"
We do not mean 10 mora'ise in the gloomy
strain of Childe Harold. We only quote these
ines as expressive of what every man feels as
age advances, and as assisting lis to account
70! the decay of that enthusiastic feeling With
which the young are went 10 hail the advent Of
Christmas.
In England, if al! we have read and heard be
true, and in Catholic countries, the festivities
Of this season are kept up with far more spirit
than they are with US. All London empties
itself into the country. Everybody, from the
King or his throne, to the Iaborer in the man
piectory, makes himself as happy as it is pos
sible. Some of the most delightful pictures
OF harmless enjoyment, to be found in any Ian
guage, relate to the Christmas holidays in
England. The railroad may have changed
tue face Of the country-it may have wrought
changes as great upon the manners of the
Christmas is still preserved. England may be
no more "Alerrie England" as it was before
the horrible shrek OF the steam-whistle had
startled the fairies in their sylvan abodes. But
Christmas is still "merry Christmas from
Lands End to John O'Groat's House. The
English are rural people their love of the
country can never be o5liteiated. With them it
seems TO be associated with the idea of home,
and home to an Eng lshman is not only the dear
est spct on earth, but all the earth. From this
intense love of home spring many of the vr
tues, and uo small share of the falings which
distinguish that great and isagreeable people.
II is bat justice TO say, that we, their genuine
descendants, have inherited a great proportion
OF the former, and-we were going to say-a
double share OF the latter but that is impossi-
bic. We have not, however, inherited their
SKILL in making Christmas the most agreeable
OF seasons.
In conclusion, we only say to our readers,
maze yourselves as merry as you possibly can.
christmas comes bat once year - so we
nave heard all our lives, and we begin to think
lis true. lfyou had as many lives as cat,
tand they have ninel they would all soon be
passed. Then, we say, make merry while
youmay, and ifyou feel no disposition to be
merry, at least seem so. If you are not yet
N your teens, ell your pockets as full of
crackers as the limited state of your finances
will allow, and blaze away as though you
meant to blow up all creaiion-taking care.
however, not to come in contact with CAPTAIN
White, Captain Juhins, officer Warrington. or
any other grim minister of the law. If you
have arrived at that dignifed age which is in.
cheated by placing the particle teen after the
cardinal numbers from Jour 10 six, ge, your
guns, scour the environs, and shoot every spar.
row, cat-bird, or wood-pecker, within three
miles around, for we take it The partridges and