The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1857-12-24

THURSDAY MOUNTING. DECEMBER y, iss,.
vyoT1cE To ADVERTISERS:
Ks ~ ------~---
Adysrtsssuasass Ger the DIsrascs must Do hasa
.staty ssz et,osk II ~ esgwoss', In order 70 Az
go ma rsxt aav. The heavy pressure Of SILVER
1,snts n.au the soiamss OF car paper VIII not
sssalt Of their reception AFTER the hour named
zs@----7-r7s- saz esz
ssts AGENCY IN NORFOLK.
wm. r. FOSTER. ESQ. 10 the Agent for this dairy
DueArex In Norfolk. the carculssscn OF the paper
-. xs~,ng eassd 20 an extent demanding ,>es
sonsl attention 10 Its Distribution the eoecdon Of
Chrtstmas. ,...
An old English publication, entitled the "Li'sra'
~ Pocket Book, Gays; snow, Chriatmas day only
o. At most day or two, are kept by people 10 Sc
rsral; the rest ere school holidays. Bat formerY'
there was nothing but . ran Of merry days, Hon''
Christmas eve to eaudiemss, and the nr" twelve
q. n.r,,eu,ar ware su,, Of triumph and hospitality
Wa hsvs seen hut too well the cause Of this dese-
ner.ex. What has saddeped our summer time has
.aaa.n.a our winter. What has taken from US
or,r Aeaas and May flowers, and suffered them to
.sl. md Ale alone as II they were made for moth
,,~ .l.a- has contradicted our lowing cups at
rnri.tmas. The middle classes make II a sorry bn-
s,nsss Of Q pudding or so extra, and game nj
cards The rich invite their friends to their coun.
try houses but do little there but gossip and gam.
b,ss and tho poor are either left out entirely, or
presented with a faw clothes and eatabies, that
make Cd . wretched substitute Cor the long and
hospstable intercourse Of old. All this 10 % much
the worse. inasmueh a. Christianity has sn espe-
cisi ere to those feelings which should remind Us
of the equal rights Of ALL and the greatest beauty
IA Il 10 not merely its CHARITf icasch fx sfrf 10
saallose ap IA Farm, but, It's being alive to the
SENTIMENT Of CHARrTS, which is stiii more op-
posed 10 these proud distances and formal dolirgs
out The same spirit that viadicated the pouring
Of rich ointment on HIS FEET. because It was
homage paid to SENTIMENT In Ills persona knew
how to bless the gift Of cup OF water. Every
fsos which You contribute 10 set sparkling at
Christmas, Is Q reelection Of that goodness OF Ma
ssu when Generosity helps TO uncioud ds the ain-
so,os rsfsrt ne lastrs Of the sunny Hsdrtns Every
holly boush and lump Of berries with which you
sdorn your houses, h piece of natural Piety as
we'll 40 Beauty, aud will enable you to rslish the
green world Of which you shew yourselves not for
sstful. Every wassan bowl which you set fow-
ing without drunkenness, every harmless Pleasure,
every Innocent Mirth, however mirthful every
Forgetfnlnsss. even Of serious things, when they
ere only swallowed up In the kindness and Joy
which It Is the end of Wisdom to produce, lie
.yisest, virtuoussst. disoreetest. best
ana Miltoas Eve, who suggested those epithsts to
her husband, would have thought so too, If We
are to Judge by the Poets account OF her hospL
tally" 49, H
In America, the great festival Of Christmas Is
celebrated with still less spirit than in England.
We are rigid, hard, utilitarian people, who must
have value received in dollars and cents for every
Tn I'm
invites us to recreation and refreshmsnt; We will
not rest: we will not unlock our Icy Journalism
and gravity, we will have nothing of life but plain,
practical prose. Our forefathers understood bet
Ser the secret Of happiness and virtue Their JOY
Gus festivals, especially Christmas, gave zsst and
variety to the whole of existence cultivated cheer
fuluess charity and faith; filled the memory of the
old with pleasing images, and opened before the
ewes of innocent children, and of the toilng mnl
titude, fountains of hope and repose, bubbling
Brightly up amid the desert of the year. and spark
ling merrily beneath the calm shadow Of the
Christmas greens. We wish those Christmas
green's could be restored, for 1t is seldom that we
citizens see anything green, except when we
look ut each other! In some of our dwellings. the
walls are still decorated. Why not on sllG We
should like to see after this bountiful and glorious
year, an Inauguration Of Christmas after the old
fashion It will never do to let tie money-making
Downeasters beat Old Virginia In Festivals. They
are Boosting Of their Thanksgiving Day. Let us
show them an old time Christmas. We recommend
each Of our readers to go this morning post haste,
and procure the holly ivy, CEDAR and for the sake
Of the young ladies, the mistletoe and make their
dwellings gay and beautiful for tomorrow, They
will not regret tbs little expense and trouble 1t
VIII be, and 1t will form bright picture 10 the
recollection OF the children, new link to home,
pleasant association with the parental name which
long after you, my good friend, are dead and bu-
..sd, will fill your vacant chair at Christmas with
q living image, and surround your brow with eTeT-
greens Of gratitude and love.
A quaint English author, speaking OF certain
festive ceremonies Of Christmas, few hundred
years ago. says they were performed ''spth great
IL. os.on" "Assuredly they were exclaims
more modern writer of the same naton-"Devo-
ton 10 that which knocks the worldly shaekes of
the ssirit; strikes spark out of hard and dry
natures; enforoes the moneygetter for moment to
forego bis gain and the penniess laborer to forget
mis- hunger-satisfying toll Devotion 10 that which
brings tho tear into the eye and makes the heart
throb against the bosom, Ia silent forests, where
the doe gazes fearlessly upon the unaccustomed
form of man, by rocks oserhanging the sea, in the
gorge of the mountains, In the cloister of the ca
,hedral when the organpeal comes and goes like
the breath of flowers; in the crowded city, where
joyous multitudes shout by one impulse
The same writer laments the decay of Christ
mas "whsre," saith he, sis the real festive ex-
iIlaration Of Christmas; the meeting Of all ranks
a. children of a common father; the tenant speak
ing freely Ia his landlords hail. the laborers and
their families sitting at the great oak table:
she Ynls Log brought Ia with shout and song
-s No night IL now with hymn or carol blest'
In sn age of music, we may believe that one
young dwslleT in Stratsford gladly woke out of
his innocent sleep, after the evening bells had rung
him to rest, when, In the stiffness of the night
the pssitery was gently touched before his faith
sr's porch, and heard, one voice under another,
these simple and solemn strains"
. 'As Joseph was a walking,
q ss4 he heard an angel sing
This night shall be born
~. s Our Heavenly King.
ssa he neither shall he born
s,as a In housen nor In hall,
or-. Nor In the place Of Paradise
-l. But in aD O1's stall.
=a HA neither shall be clothed
In purple nor 10 pail:
~ -, but all In far linen,
As ara babies all
He neither shall be rocked
- ss 4- In silver nor In gold,
put In wooden cradle
sF So That rocks upon the monlde
Sa* a=s
India and Missf0ns.
According to the Paris correspondent OF the
New York Journal Of Commerce, the British Socie-
~ for the Propagation Of the Gospel has caused to