Delaware State journal and statesman., 1866-12-21

sn' IL ! have to tell YOU about thai
.nawing noise again, Amelia Mary, you 60
lllto @ lne Dack kitchen, miss | must send to
your sunday School, and tell 'cm to set you
u n,c tcNt 10 learn against such awful manners. y
Dlhher over, Joe, the grace saver. returns
thanks The children 90 to Sunday School.
and iather turning down his shirt.sleeyes
Swhich have been tidily tucked back behind
lils elbows during the carving process), puts
on ms sunday black coat, charges his Sun.
uay inng pipe, and cOmpOses himself clean
anu christianity to smoke, while Joe reads
Ihe latest murders, forgeries, and bigamics,
OUT OF Lloyd's 'ponny weekly"
Inc Jones above quoted, who is but a type
oi tcn thousand, is equally eccentric in his
observation OF other high holidays and les
uVlues, Christmas ove, for instance. His
Ohrlstmas purchases must be sanctifed by
season IN the EXTREMIST sense of the term.
IL is idle your preaching TO Jones that day.
light is the time for marketing, that cheats
lhrlVe by lamplight, that hurrying and
crowulng and squeezing are fatal 10 bar
gaming, that yellow COW meat looks ruddy
anu ialr as the best, seen by the light of
naming gas He is ready enough to believe
IL on ordinary occasions, but on this special
occasion ho turns deaf ear. 1t may be en-
ueayored to explain this apparent eccen-
trlcltY OF Jones's by the fact that Christmas
eve is' as rule, wages-receiving time,
ana that 1t is really dusk and ''eVcn before
Jones reaches home. This IS true as far as
IL goes, but really it applies scarcely at all TO
the case. Jones does not DEPEND on the
earnings OF the previous few days for his
annual banquet of banquets lie "saves
up Tor it by means of II shop money-club
or otherwise, and has the cash in hand in
good timo to make his purchases two days
previous to Christmas, if he had mind.
But he has no mind; Christmas day falling
on a Tuesday, he would no more think Of
laying in his stock Of Christmas dinner pro-
vision on the previous Saturday, than he
would OF retiring to rest on Christmas eve
without having lusty ''stir'' at the pudding
stun IN the pan. Beef so bought would not
be "Chrstmas" beef lie knows as well as
any man that the poultry for Christmas con
sumption are inundated and exposed for
sale several days before the festival, and he
cannot be blind to the fact that if he took
quiet stroll to the rendezvous of the goose
and turkey merchants on the evening before
Christmas eve his opportunities OF choice
would be more extended, and as likely as
not he would save shilling in purchase
money nevertheless, he would scorn to
avail himself of such advantages. lie has
friends coming to dinner, and he is the last
man in the world TO treat them shabbily.
W
the inquiry of a guest who, with the prlyi-
legged familiarity of an old acquaintance,
might require to know when and where the
bird was purchasedS
1t would scarcely lie worth his while to
tell lalsehoOd about it; but how could he
lind words TO confess that ii was not a Christ
mas goose at all, having been bought "last
week"f His character for jovialitY and
hospitality would suffer from that moment.
A suspicion would creep into the breast of
each guest that the dinner was one contrlved
on economical principles. Whether it were
true or no, when the mince. pies appeared,
the pie-shOp in the High Street would bs
privately assigned as their birthplace, and
the berry BROWNIES of the hostess's pud-
ding, while IL was audibly commended and
its complexion ascribed to natural richness,
in secret would be attributed to soine of the
penny-a packet c0loring trash manufactured
by that great champion of the washing-tub
and deadly enemy of puler irritaRs, Fiddler
Dozensticks 1t wouldn't do at all. Very
possibly evidence of their dissatisfaction
might not be found in falling off of the
appetite of the guests, but il would be talked
of afterwards, undoubtedly.
And in case that Jones, reading these
lines, should imagine that am holding up
this weakness of his TO ridicue, let me
hasten to set myself right in his eyes. Your
weakness, Jones, is laudable, proper and /
have great mind to say Christian You
act on the simple belief - although, like
many another Christian belief of yours, you
are contented TO enjoy it in your hearts
warm depths and without declaring it from
the summit of an upturned tub-that the
season of Christmas eve is sanctifying
season, and that to buy and prepare for the
feast during the hallowed time, is like asking
blessing on ii. You don't think of this,
Jones, as you are cheapening turkey or
investing twOpence in horseradsh as gar
nish for your roast beef, chow is 1t that you
never eat horseradish at any other time of
year, JonesD but reverence for the glad
season is IN you, and you are governed by it
in all your actions. The good influence
shines IN your face Jones, as you may con
vince yourself if you will take peep at it in
the draper's plate. glass, as you wait outside
for your good lady who is proudly within
the shop investing that unexpected three
and-sixpence of yours in a new cap with
cherry bows Now, Mr., Cynic, you arc
quite wrong when you cry, "Boshl twaddlel
cantr' You never will convert me to your
opinion that the cheerful serenity of Jones's
countenance on this particular evening Is
due, not to any sort of "mystic influence"
but simply TO Jones's rare prospect Of a feed
off turkey and rich pudding, and merry
evening of pipes and grog to follow l
don't deny that Jones is q man with an ami
NAL appetite, and with hankering after the
fleshpots, and that tie weight of the viands
with which his basket is crammed is con-
siderably mitigated by the buoyant properties
of much of his soul there too.
But you must know that Jones has bought
other goods than will come to the spit or the
pot. He has the worth of threepence in
holly and the same in mistletoe. Yon may
see that he has, for there il bangles by the
side of his basket And there, | am landed
high and dry again on the ground on which
l take my stand, Mr.. Cynic, when you
broke in with your unpleasant observations.
How is it that Jones incommodes himself by
carrying home that bulky, prickly bush,
when he has so much else to carryP You
know, know, everybody knows, that holly
and mistletOe have been seen hanging in the
shops of the greengrocors for week past; il
has been hawked and bawled about the
streets by costermOngers ever since last
Wednesday. Why then did not Jones'
since he must spend his money in such
nonsense, why didn't he make his holly
purchase any day as he came home 10 din
ner or returned at night any time during the
past week2 Why for the best of ali rea-
sons,-he didn't believe IN holly or mistlo-
toe till this evening. He has seen lots OF 1t
about, but he had no mind for it,--no more
than he would for plucking green apples
growing within reach. lie is glad to sec so
fair prospect, but ripe fruit for his money.
| Holly, with him, is not ripe until this "eve'
The ruddy berries have now an interest for
him they possessed not In the morning.
Had ho then, by accident, pricked his hand
with the holly thorns, he would probably
have exclaimed "blown or "bother" it, OF
may be for he is hasty man and not oveI
rlndre Of words when nut Out-hp WOuld
have used stronger expleuve than either
but should such calamity befall him now
I'd wager as much spirits as would serve tc