The sun., 1864-12-23
LOCAL NEWS.
sEw YORK AND rnE VICINITY

'uHbuAn FESTIVALS arc commAnded by the CathruC
tusin' the word in the wildes, sense Church, to
be KEEP, a. days of fastinr, VT some Of thcsc-and
particularly Christmas Eve arc made scasous q
mirth and joll.ty. With Christmas Eve the Chr a.
mas holidays practically commence, although .orno
clnim tha, hey commence % the i6th December
The season terminates hi lsi February, or Can
dlemas Eve, by which date all decorations must he
removed from ibe churches. The regular holidays.
however should last til the Twelfth Day, ~ the
Epiphany. In olden times these twelve dsys eu-
hibted an uninterrupted round Of fcaating and
ioliiy, and Il il still a iovial one, though much
modified There ara, however, iraces Of old Pagan
customs in msuy Of our popular rights and ccic.
MONIES, which after The conversion Of Ene,nd to
Christianity, were still retained partly because as
mster Of cSped.ency the r ghts Of that rcli..on
were migrated by its teachers on ths old hcsihen
ceremonies and partly because II was found inn
possible 10 wean Their converts entirely from their
old supershtonM The hanging up Of the mis-.
totoe, and tho burning II tho Ylie loy,
are more especially derived from the PAsans
snd To custom Is still observed Ia Ensland. Tho
burning nj the Yule log is rom the scan tinaviAna
who used 10 have large fires iit in honor of tlcr
God "rhor" This Is the mos. Joyous ceremony NJ
Chrsinss Eve Each wayfarer raised his hat
when !, passed him it's way from the woods, and
the bsrds welcomed its entrance with mu.ke,ry.
Aher tho llock had been hsd consumed, II was
laid by till the following Christmas, when II was
used 10 light the new log. Accompanying tho
iule log was candle Of moustrous size, called the
Yule or Chr stmas candle, which during the twelve
"'sN'S VI 'e .os''s' WAS ourhou on tne hiSh table
"'u1Pe'' lh're are many other ceremonies OBJ
e~''o" ou 'nr'S''nH' h'o IN England "hi'h would
'ah' VOC wuon spsco 70 euuih'r"'' such AZ taxing
'A''S 'nd no' ''ue' ~ m o"e'ns F" 'he principal
apP'-"e'' sP''c' ave- W wv 'r'hards IA Nofi"ik'
| 'uo te'er'a o' INC stuenohS OF masters and SER
'sn''' "c'
| ihcfe Is a"ay's mass sung "i in''ni'h' IN Ca
N'oo onur'he7 on Ohris''nsS eve In TINS country
however, mass Is not sung III about In TIE morn
my ah' "Ftahu h'gh mass AEeT place nj lo4
O'CLOCK r'p"'r superstition mas II 'ha' 'h' pow
CTS oi i"tA are prostra'eI ~ THIS season the
coet ~ huIp'seH 10 gro" AH hEht 'ons' nni IN
eV'nsa'rr anu OneSh're the noNc' is siII current
VI" tue ea''' i"'' on he'r knees At midnight aud
adore Inc infant SAVIOR as the legend s'ys they
| an IN the msnfrr At hrhlol'iH. Hoes are said to
Sns in their hiveS and bread baked on Christmas
|
In this country Christmas eve is also generally
| observed as time Tor jointly and merry -maL L'ug.
Many OF TIE customs OF European coun'ries' per-
| hsro more especially those o' 6crmany' have heen
adopted by our people, although there AZ" others
| exclusively American. Among tho children, par
ncuary Christmls eve is az event at ls an Nio1s-
ly looked forward TO- {" beng the time for the ad-
wont of that most femarkablc and mysterious Pc .
sonAge' santa Claus The en''y part o' the eycn-
ing is commonly devoted to appropriate childish
snar-1ragon blind-man's bnh charide',
| ETC., and also the preparation OF tho Christmas
tree. The latter S eomi a'atye'y new endom
being OF German orig q, and only common In th's
country within .ho last score Of years Tho christ
mas tree is bouyh Of evergreen placed IN shc par
lor and ga.ly decorated With all that is most pleas
ing to the eye OF childhood. Candies howers
toys and the thousand other articles that s. de-
lght tho little oucS arc tastriully arranged upon
| ,ho t,,,,h ;,,,,..r~,i ,.,,,b t,,,,i,, ,a,,,-g -
~. - ,-,,..,,, 49,
,n,. o,,oe,,nca rho ,,,,,,,.,,, i,,o ,,,,.,
| of.,.,,....I-..- Co.. ,,.. -.
- ,.,l.,,,,l.., 80, -, -.
-. a..,.,.'
, 20
'''
w. "''' ',''''
y, 9'"'-
'''ou' "''''' '''' '''' '''' AZ
COZ ."u" To- ms "Au'"'n' ''''' avs pump
''' 0'' ''' "'
w." - ,,' ,.' '...'..',''' ~