The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-12-21

lJO1Ouoiy /WelSSSN uV"Ney 70 hCaI ~
hand, and the young and old, rich and
poor, grave and gay, weak and strong are
preparing to celebrate it. We fad the
following on Christmas and its Customs,
and give it in preference to anything Os
our own on the subject. 1t may be new
to some Of our readers, instructive to ma
ny, and We hope entertaining to all.
There is something so congenial to hu-
man nature, so absolutely necessary to
the health Of mind and body, in the re.
taxation which festivals afford, that we do
not wonder at the unwillingness which
Sir Isaac Newton.-tell Us the. heathcnS
felt to part with their holidays ON the in
PRODUCTION of Christianity among them;
so that, in order to facilitate their CONVEX
sion. by retaining their days of jOy, Greg
DRY, Bishop Of NeSO Cearea in Pontus,
instituted annual festivals TO saints and
martyrs, corresponding nearly as possible
in date, if not in form, with those most
popular among the Greeks and Romans.
The type Of Christmas, the most hon
ored, joyous and beautiful Of Christian
holidays, existed lOr before Christianity,
in the Saturnalia of the ancicnts, which
took place about the hyemal solStice.
Nearly a century had elapsed from the
birth Of its founder, before the followers
Of Christianity introduced the observance
of this day in commcmoration Of that
event; and upon the second anniversary,
when great numbers Of them were assem-
bled in the church, Diocletian, the Roman
Emperor, who at this time kept his Court
at Nicomedia, ordered the doors to be
fastened, and the building to be set on
fire and thus lit such yulc blaze that
the brightness thereof spread throughout
incipient Christendom, and the ashes Of
the faithful, thus scattered through the
earth, seemed henceforth to have carried
with them the germs Of the new creed for
which they suffered.
At this period, and for more than seven
hundred years after, the Feast of Epiph-
any, Twclfth-day, or the Alteration Of the
Kingston so have the "wise men" Of
ST. Matthew, the simple shepherds Of St.
Luke, excepting watch over their hocks
by night" been denominated-was re.
gnrdcd as OTSand the same festival; and
its very name, which, among the Pagans
signiicd the appearance Of the gods upon
earth, was singularly appropriate in refer
encc to Him whom the church regarded
as Divinity-made man; at present the
calendar links both, by succession of
holidays extending from the 25th of De.
cembcr to the 9th Of January.
1t requires but little Imagination to
cOnStrue the beautiful fable of the golden
age, which the old Roman Saturna!ia
commemorated, into a prophetic myth of
the universal peace and good will which
the divine teaching of the Nazarite was
calculated to effect upon earth, and which
Doubt, SIS it will effect when the spirit of
His precepts guides, in its simplicity and
truth, the actions of Ills people.
During the continuance Of this antique
feast, every one interchanged presents
with his neighbor; their houses were dec.
Grated with evergreen and laurel; no
criminal was punished no arms taken
up; the very slaves were permitted to sit
at table with their masters, in allusiOn to
the happy equality which was supposed
to have existed during the reign Of Sat.
urn; nay, banquetS were sometimes made
for them, at which their masters served
"a custom whose shadow still fingers in
the yule feasts once common in the ba-
rOnial halls Of England, and not yet quite
exploded from them.
Among the yeoman Of "merry Eng
land" besides the customary mince pies
and plum buildings, there was, in old
times, large cake called the yule cake,
oversprcad with leaves and ornaments !;
and on Christmas Eve, an immense can.
die, gaily decorated and for which-a can.
dle.stick, used at no other period, was
brought forth, was lighted, and a large
block Of wood called the yule log, laid on
the fire, both Of which burnt till morning.
In the meanwhile table was spread in
the Kitchen, covered with pork, pies, bread,
and cheese, elder wine, and ale; and
after the family had supped on furmity,
all went to bed-nOt to sleep, for about
midnight the village singers with musical
instruments that formed the choir of the
church, in humble imitation of" Gloria
in excelSis," that primal carol sounding
by night above the sheep.folds on the
plains Of Bethlehem, burst forth beneath
windows, and the master Of the house
rose up and let them in.
1t was unlucky, according to local su-
perstition, for any but black headed per.
son to enter the house first, and on these
occasions the veteran Of the party, who
had headed the musicians on the annual
recurrence Of the vigil for years, always
took precedence, though his -hair-was
white as the winter snow-but then it
bad once been black!
In Ireland, the custom Of burning gi.
gantic candles, still prevails amongst the
Catholic community on Christmas Eve,
and In the north Of England and some
parts Of our own country, it is also COM
mon. Light ct ell times appears to have
essN used on occasions Of festivity and
TjOiciNg-frOm the rude bonfire u the
wax.lit drawing.room but in these can.