New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-12-25
nHRISTMAa DAY.

4 -
Lord and Kisgl Ring out, ring cut thy
merriest peal for this the happiest day o
all the fading year! Bring mistletoe and
| holly-branch to deck each cherished hom
and sacred altar. Rifle the changing fores
now of its most precious trsasures-tht
fairy ferns, the rich tassels Of the stately
pine, the glossy lobes of the towering mag
nolia, and the graceful tracery Of the "tree
of life."
With roses twine the evergresnS and
crown the coming Christmas morn.
| New the little children's hearts beat
rapidly; their eyes sparkle and checks
redden with joyous expectation. Swiftly
fly their will ing feet and smiles o'erspread
their dimplsd faces. Innumersble are the
questions they ask about that mysterious
Santa Claus, whose whole existence, in their
artlessnesS, they imagine is devoted to
making them happy.
Ts the grown people, toto us, who
| once experienced the same innocent Joy
Of childhood, in the anticipatioas OF thir
festival, 10 the memorable anniversary full
Of comfort and cheer. In the trials
aud storms of 'life's perplexing way,'
amid the worlds din and confusion and
safe from its pursuing wrath" we rejoice
as the glad notes Of kindly greeting and
congratulations of Christmas fall upon cur
hearing. We Americans are far too peau-
rious of our festal days. Too few Of them
are mingled with our weeks and months of
toll, aRd toe few Of them do we In fitting
manner celebrate. Let as highly resolve
that the Christmas Of the year eighteen
hundred aud sixty-eight-sO soon to be
numbered with the years before the feed
shall be an era Of good in the fleetiHg years
our life. Let it DO kept not in foolish revel-
ry, but with hoaest enjoyment OF
all the COED Blessings kind
Heaven is bestowing upon US and with
heartfelt gratitude for or comfortable lot.
If we have been neglected. of the duties
We owe in our varied relations to each
other, let US determine to improve. II as
fathers, as brothers, as sons, we have been
careless Of the calls Of affection and the
claims of kindred, if We have been harsh to
the elder or Geld to the younger of the
home circles, let US VeW that We will be 80
no more. If as citizens we have been un-
charitable to eur fellows, unforbearing in
our civil, political or social differences, let rs
be more careful in the future. Above all
we can please Him whose birth ID
new commemOrsted by remembering His
command to love our neighborS. II there
be one within eur reach, upon when
blighting sorrow has fallen, or whom pinch
ing poverty has crushed, let us seize this
glad time to carry to him relief and CEN
Nor must our duty to cur city
and our loved State be forgotten-to strive
how we may best serve the interests Of
each. With disinterested patriotism mus
We grid up our lOins 10 repair the waste
places of our commonwealth, rebuild its
ruined hOmesteads, encourage the ingenuity
of those who seek by inventive genius to
add to its resources; who study the Improve
ment ofits'agricultural skill, and who would
initiate enterprise and liberality in resto-
ring its commerce. The noise and tumult
Of partisan strife must be lost iu the hum
Of useful labor, and civil animosity vanish
in mutual effort for the general good. FL
1ally, our country, grand, noble and glo- |
'ious How wonderful and significant her |
origin. How magnificent her career
And how honorable her destiny Think OF |
t, iellow-ci citizens! There still survive
! precious few, whS lived while the fathers
we're celebrating in Independence Hall,
1t Philadelphia, ever the great Declaration.
When the iron tongHe of the old bell
Ibove them, upon which were inscribed
he strangely cOincident words: proclaim
liberty throughout the land and to all the
Inhabitants thereof" rang forth its salute
o the adoption of the principles which
Fere to lift up all the people of the earth,
ONE lived-it may bel infancy-who yet
xlst. The veterans of Bunker Hill,
1 Bennington aud Saratoga, of Camden and
Yorktown are indeed gone, but the princi-
les they loved, live and reign in greater
srce than ever. The disasters of the Bran
ywine and of Long Island, the dreary
marches in the Carolinas, and the chilling
aows Of Valley Forge, the treachery of
Arnold-all the suffering and privation of
struggling people in the days Of 1776, are
1ipgs Of the dim past, but their fruit ap-
ears in the glories of the mightiest nation
lie world has yet seen. True we have
cen sorely seourged, but it was
nat we might be purified. Fellow
itizen, as brethren we were all
Utility of grievous wrongs, as brethren we
ave terribly suffered; shall we not as
rethren join again in fraternal union and
18th "malice 10 none and charity for ALI
mulate each other in seeking by every
ray to ennoble the Republic? May all
ur readers have satisfactory reason to re-
aember the good Christmas of '6s, aud
0 each and all, Of every condition, rank,
ex and complexion; to the fathers, the
lothers, the brave sons, the blnshiug
to the aged sire and to the little
bid, to worthy contemporaries and to all
ur friends and neighboFs, of whatever I
reed, sec. or political belief, we heartily
fish truly merry Christmas
A GREAT MUNICIPAL BANKRUPT