New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-12-09

now we nave rOlcu III, as DitJeI-s"cct
morsel, under and over our tongues! 1t con-
veys truth, though it was meant to convey
n biting falsehood, and though, in certain
moods, we take it ut its worst Interpretation.
IL is curious how fond we are OF speaking Ill
Of Ourselves--in a sense, man has been the
cunning architect Of his own exceedingly bad
reputation. He will have it that he does
nothing disinteresedly. Yet it i, his ide.l OF
tho generous which crops out in hundred
self disparagemcnts which mean no more than
the polite Spaniard'5 at is yours" when you
praise bs horse or his house. The lover
spends all his boarded money in buying u
jewel for his darling, displtchin3 it as "a
"slight token OF his affection" as If the costly
thing were no more than a kiss; and if she
were Of n geological turn, and he sent her an
elephant it would BE- with the same modest
depreciation. We shall think this gft-giy-
ing world altogether hard and selfish
when nobody gives by stealth, and bushes
and stammer5 to be found out IhOs, who
want a rigid rationale Of liberal and generous
deeds, and who will still be booking for mean
motives lurking under fresh and cheerful
liberality, should be sentenced, for this mis-
demean0r Of mi3tru5t, to solitary cOnlinc-
ment beginning upon the First Of December
and ending upon the Second Of January. To
them the laughter Of surprised and delighted
childhood has no more music in 1t than the
howl Of tie hyena. To them the toys shop Is
lunatic asylum and the tree of Santa Claus
Bohun Upas. As they will have it that no
month of all the twelve is free from the faint
of blrter and the vice of qud pro quo, let
these moral hybIids be left to their dismal
experiment of uaiting the donor and the
dOnee in the same dubious person!
We have sail that the Frenchman's maxim
conveys truth. We are all go helpless here;
we are all 50 utterly dependent one upon an
other; there is such reticu!atiOn of the So
cial relations; the debit aud credit of LIES
ledger is so inexorlbic, that to find that We
are loved, that others remember and care for
us, that hearts still warm toward US, and that
hands are still stretched Out-wtl something
in them-tO greet us; to discover and eXpe-
rience all this naturally gives rs hopeful
faith in the future A lively sense Of benefits
to come, forsooth! And why not2 Does our
being begin and end upon Christmasf Be-
cause we have pretty things given US to-day
are no pretty things to be given uS to-mor-
row7 That would be a misty outlook indeed
life before them. Ii We must not expect the
delightful and natural "more," well might
we fear the "dona ferentes the gift bear
ers with their fatal offerings. 1t would be
as if the heart which sends the token
ceased TO beat with the sending as II
kindness exhausted itself by one spasm0dic
act; as if we committed with our munlficent
impulses; as if the prompting to be bOuntiful
slept forever with its satisfaction. Because
word or deed-and words are sometimes the
best of deels-lias revived or confidence III
our kind, weakened, it may be, by hard ex-
perience or by heavy hap, shall we shiver,
after an hours Summer, into the Winter of
discontcnt7 If Heaven loves the cheerful
giver, does it love any the less the cheerful
receiver7 lie VINO looks n gift horse in the
mouth has been consigned to proverbial in
fanny but he who morbdly fears that gift
is not to be repeated, examines the entire ami
nal from his head to his tail, and finds him
foundered and broken-wirded and fit only for
the knockers.
The truth is, there is altogether too much
philosophy floating about in this world, and it
is hardly more palatabe for its mixture with
a modicum of cheap morality. We are told
gifts, but must regard only the fact that some
thing has been given to US. Ii is this doctrine
which makes the December crop of pen-wipers
and pin-cushions so enormous. Mr.. Jones is
expected to be as grateful for silk or worsted
fiddle-fa as it Aramlnta had sent him
a triad, tandem SO to speak, of diamond
studs. or the meerschaum pipe which bis smoky
soul desires. 1t is ali nonsense to expect it of
Jones. 1t isn't according to human nature.
Eliminate the sumptuOus. and sorry time
the shOpkeepers, we fancy, would have of it
just now. Imagine the Queen OF Sheba driving
up to the palace in a cab, and presenting King
Solomon with pair of fancy braces! Would
his Majesty have been as grateful as he was
for the six score talents Gin god), and
the cinnamon, and the allspce, and the
duclly diamondsf He gave her back her gifts,
it is bookkeeping probably just little spice
for the royal kitchen-ald how could he have
given her back pair of braces or smoking
cap, OF slippers of worsted q world too wide
for the royal lady's pretty feetf The charm of
it all is to give and receive according to our
condition. When we get up to our tender
eyes in the soft sentimentalities, trifles in
themselves acquire an artificial value. Those
who are boarding locks of hair, or faded flow
ers, soiled and shapeless glove, twO-and-
six-penny ring, have ideas of value unknown
to Mr.. Adam Smith and to all his followers
or foes But why should we think less, why
not great deal more, of the gifts of friend
ship, because they may be costly enough to
suggest sacrifice and the self-abnegation of
the giver7 Because q toy is precious, is the
title deed of hOuse-the consideration one
dollar-any the less SOL Let not those who
receive such documents on Christmas morning
complain!
There are great many wise suggestions