The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-12-25
Christmas.
No paper will be issued from TINS ounce
- ArA.aa.. ,,,arninr We snnnOso II Is not

No paper will be issued rom thls ouice
ON Monday morning. We suppose 1t Is moi
necessary to state the reason.
Christmas is now. more or less, nation'i
holiday but the time has been when Nc"
ENGLAND refused to celebrate it. Virgin"
has ,lways celebrated it. The Cavaliers and
the puritans differed on this subject as on
many others and ne Virginia had always
sided with the Cavaliers, she has always kept
q merry Christmas. Indeed, we suppose
thot rhe manner of keeping Christmas In
Virginia f almost exactly like that OF Keep
ing In England. In the country the en-
tire week, from Christmas to New year
dav. is a season of mirth and merri-
1ncnt. The children and the grand
children assemble with the parents and
tho grandparents, and all enjoy them-
selves. The large log fires, the ho"l
Of ccr-nog, the hunting parties by day,
the dance By night, the merry-maklngs OF
various sorts, are each part ana parcel OF
orr VIRGINIA Christmas. And then the
,.hris,noas stories not such as DICKENS
writes, but short, simple ones handed GOWN
nom generation TO generation. ChFlsllhaS,
too. was a happy day for the negroes peiorc
the war had deprived them OF Good homes
md good ma>teTS~-at least Tor those Oh
them ncarlv ALL who had good homes ana
GOOD masters. But the old cronc 10y the
Kitchen fire always maintained thai Tins 21th
T.: Deccmher-thiS season Of jolhty-Was
not the true Christmas. She remembered
,..,.h,rs whom u different day had been
celebrated. 70 her the night Of the 9th OF
.ranrary was the time when all the brute
,raqtion fell on their knees and &C
i.,oyy,etrel the Babe Of Bethlehen: rs lord
or nj. Of this. we are reminded by the
american ,Eyclop9dia, which says ut
..v.as an old English superstition that on
" Christmas Eve the oxen were always
found on their knees, rs in IN attitude OF
/" devotion; and that. after the change
!" trol, old 10 new style, they continued to
10 this only the eve Of old Christmas
"Gay, " This change was made in 1852
sd we have heard this story repeated over
an.: over again by superstitions negroes.
WHO would never dare to attempt to test
il, truth. 1t isa beautiful superstition, and
one which we would not wish to see de-
.c-orad.
Of course as we do not keep the same
Christmas day that was kept two hundred
,.,.ars AGO. there is no sanctitv in the day.
II il well 70 keep one day. 1t is not i'm
rortaut that that day should be the ami
ve->arv Of the one upon which our saviour
KS born. Indeed, rs we heard clergy
In, ,,rtt a
nor the month. nor even the year, when
Christ vas born. 1t was several centuries
after his death before any day for celebrating
IL, birth was authoritativeiy fixed upon, ana
Y,cn. u course, ii could have been done
viii, no certainty. 1t is pretty certain, how
Ger, that it was hardly in such weather
rs Christmas usually brings that the bate
lav in the mangcr. and the shepherds
watched their flocks by night, and the
wise mon from the East travelled in search
or him upon whom shone the star OF
bethlehem. The fact is, no doubt, that rs
the srn apparently stops in it's course al
This period of the year, this period was
chosen as the one to neutrality-suspicious. be-
cause il was already celebrated for some
other reason. The MasonS celebrate the
9th. and call it "ST. JoHS's day for
similar reason. no doubt-.iust as they ccie-
hrata the longest day Of the year and call
Il another "ST .JoHS's day"
Rut ChristmaS should soften the hearts
md omen the hands of the rich. " The poor
W have ALWAYS with YOU" Ave, always
Christmas finds them still at your door.
And on this blessed day no Christian can
turn them away emptv-handed. In"
whfzrling wind. which hut increases your
sanee OF comfort, chills them through ana
THROUGH. The snow-flakes, which to you
seem liuht as gosSamer. weigh them down
as If of lead. Gaunt Want stands ever at
their door, threatening to enter; and let
but few davs Of snow and sleieht and ice
and frost come, and the grim monster en-
ters unhiddcn. 'Tis for you to drive nm
thence Mt least once year-on Christmas
dav. Then will your own hearth seem
doi,hlv cheerful, and your "bosom's lord
vii, sit lightly on his throne" throughout
This happy season. InaSmuch as we give
unto the least of these His children, We give
unto Him whose birth you celebrate.
But, hold 'Tis no time for sermonizlng.
We must enjoy our Christmas, and leave
the reader to enjoy his.
4 merry Christmas to all