Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian., 1859-01-01
CuRlSgNAS AND Ers CUSTOMS.

| Christmas is the festival Of the year
| With modern Christian nations it takes pre-
! cedence Of all and every religious celebration.
It's blessing are Tor the old as well as the
young The magnificent shows, which wei
coined it, in tie old haronial times have, in
deed, long been disUScd. We no longer SET
| Gle boar s.head borne in, to the sound of the
violin and harp, 10 grace the over loaded table
We no longer hghold the page. with the was
| -ail bowl, preceded by the mimic trumpeter.
We no longer hear the shouting, the music,
and the uirth Of the jester, a crowds OF Ser
yit0rs drag the yuie log into the great hall,
~ here the baron and his lady stand in state,
to welcome it, The mines, the games, the
| bui'OOncry, The noisy Tevcls have passed away.
But not the less hearty is our modern ohser
vance Of Christmas 90 the contrary, the
festival is the more appropriately kept in what
ever it is more scdate th&n Formerly In thou
sands of happy homes, The Christmas tree is
raised in thousands oi churches prayer and
thanksgiving 60 up. All over the land, the
h0sy table board, at the old homestead, is
spread for the children and grandchildren
Once more the parental rQpt-tree overShndows
the reunited family, and sheds down upon
them It's calm and PEACEFUL blessings. Alien-
atous are forgotten, ieaiousicS disappear heart
! burINngs cease to be. The genial atmosphere
| Of Christmas thaws out even seitishness itself.
| And the angels, who sang "pcacc and good
| will to men," on that still, calm morning,
| eighteen centuries ago, seem even yet 10 rev
| ercnt minds, to usher in this sacred dawn. The
! last star paling before the morning Hark! do
! you not hear scraphlc volces:
| In England many OF the old customs still
L
| rove about. from house to house, singing
- Christmas Waits" and are usually reward
! ed. after the ancient fashion, with q DOLE
! The church bells are set merrily ringing
Many Of the wealthy landed proprietofs still
| keep up the habit Of dispensing Goals and blan
I! ketS to the poor, and at the door Of the castle
! or the MANSION. Children 90 out into the
! woods, 70 cut holly, or look for mslctoe and
| theiG uiythtul laughter makes many silen.
dell with giadress The churches are oil
| ell States, gifts are exchanged between huS-
! band and wife, parents and children, hetro-
thed lovers. friends Sisters, and old acquaint-
ances. Hampers Of game are sent from
country relatives, 70 cousins in the city. The
| poorest indulge, on Christmas day, in
good dinner Hsrity every where pre-
walls.
On this side of the Atlantic, Christmas is
less universally observed: indeed, until with
in few years, it was hardly kept at all in
New England, except by the members OF the
| Episcopal church and even yet, over large
portions of that Intelligent section, it is regar
ded as Of secondary Importance to Thanks
giving Day But in the Middle States it has
aiways been the chief festival .of the year
| T. Of fi,o Cl1
ler spirit survives, Christmas has been kept,
from the era OF the first settlement Of James
town, with more unaninity, perhaps, than
anywhere else in the United States As we
70 further South we find it the national holt
day, If we may use such a phrase, for the
Anglo African races. In Charlesiown, it Is,
welcomed by the negroes, with the discharge
Of Chinense crackers, and all he uprcay
which distinguishes the Fourth of July at the
North At Havana it becomes almost Sat
urnaa, or, 20 speak more strictly, an uproar-
iOus negro carnival.
Oh blessings on Christmas How the
little hearts OF children throb with delight, as
it draws near and how, week alter week,
the dear ones ask, ''Isn't Christmas most
here? Visions Of plum puddings, turkeys,
and other delicacies. float before their imagiIr
ati0Il Liley iiiiSel dpoos l1l0 hi'Sh0h uooi a,i
Christmas morning, if not at church and
when the pudding is triumphantly taken up
they follow it, shouting and dancing, wild with
gIee All our mouth fairly waters at the
thought; we are child again; we taste, in
fancy, the delicious dish, than which nectar
could not be more exquisite. viii we ever
again enjoy anything as We enjoyed the Christ
mas pudding?
But the Christmas tree is the crowuine
ioy for children. With what rapt wonder
they gaze on 1t, when it is revealed to then,
for the first time in their lives, with its golden
fruit, its twinkhng tapers, and its loads Of
tempting toys! As they grow older, the,
grow older, they begin to doubt the fable
which they have been tod, perhaps, Of a Ger
tain Kriss- Kringle, (the german Of Santa.
Claus who brings gifts for good childreg
and is the omnipresent architect Of all Christ
mas trees. Thew understand, now, why
their parents, on Christmas Eve, are so per
tinacious in shutting them out of the room
where the Christmas tree is to appear, al
glorious, tomorrow. They peep under TIM
doors and listen on the staircase they even
sometimes, steal in on the busy parents -
TILL at last, there is nothing left ior it, but t.
put induisitive, excited little rebels to bed
So to bed they go where they lie awake
talking Of what they had, on last Christmas
and of what they would like to get on this
and so gradually tall asleep, to dream o
Kriss-Kringle, to wake at daylight and to b