Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1875-12-24
"CHRIsTOs ANNESTI.
BY CHAS. B. CARLISLE.

ne JuFLSeU.
CHRISTOS ANNESTI.
BY CTAs. b. CARLISLE.
Christmas. Christos Anesti. AnC
shall we not this day take each othel
by the hand, and proclaim this won
derful happiness, Christos Anesti.
How wildly come the pictures o
the long ago, with this Christina
Day. How the sweet songs of Davi(
whisper through our souls, ga tres
planted by the Rivers of Water" anC
Bethlehem. embossed in fig and Olive
orchards, overlooking the valley across
which the wise men of the East came
to find Jesus. Away yonder the hills
where the shepherds watched theil
flocks by night and in those fields
gentle Ruth CLEANED, little dreaming
in those days of her poverty, that from
her meeting with Boaz among The
reapers, would arise such events to the
human race-that her shepherd grand
child should be a King, and the faith
er of mightier one, and still on de-
scending. there should come one, {
King, and "man of SORROW" who
knew the true life, the true secret o.
peace, and taught it in SAYING
what shall it profit a man if he gair
the whole world and lose his owl
soul."
Christmas. Another milestone il
life, another in the long lane ofmemory
grown gray and damp with the pass
age Of years. Christmas, marking the
beginning of Era for mankind, and
the portal through which the new
year will enter with light and buoyant
step. The dial of months. days and
hours has been passed, and the finger
is rapidly approaching the mark o.
years again. And the events are gath
ering. War has been close in pursuit
of Peace, Avarice with clenched hand
and Prodigality with open purse, each
seized a hand of Plenty. Sickness
with pallid cheek, crept unawares tc
the side of Health. Misery and Pow.
cry with squalid mien followed close
behind gay, smiling Pleasure Jeal
ousy sheltered beneath the wing ol
Love. Dependency trod fast in The
footsteps of Hope. Envy caught the
robe of Content, and Melancholy, in
sombre garb and fearful eye, drew
near to Cheerfulness. while Death
with uplifted dart, armed with all hi:
terrors, stalked silently behind.A
Something of this picture we can take
to our own hearts.
What a day this Christmas, to put
it all aside, stand in the solemn pres
ence of the church and cry Christie:
Anesti, 'Peace on earth, good will
to all mankind" What day to for.
get and forgive; to stoop and write
our judgments in the sand; to make
amends; to re-awaken sundered friend
ships to meet with proffered hand those
who may have wronged us; to freely
grant those We may have been wrong
to stand not in the way of reconcillia
ton.
When We have accomplished this
we shall have hearts attuned to the
fullest enjoyment of the season, and
can gladly welcome the New Year sc
closely following in the wake of the
Christmas season. Little humanitie:
date their lives from certain epochs
Christmas is always an objective poin
after the Fourth of July. Children
live from one to the other expectantly
Tired of the childish dissipation o
the National holiday, they turn away
towards Christmas, and grow impa
tient at the slow passage Of days.
The first sight of toys in a shoI
window is the signal for wild, almos
uncomfortable childish enthusiaSHnd
The heart, unused to 2efsA
appointed anticipation, fastens upon
these objects and their possession, the
alpha and omega of child's life.
Those above the child-level, and
busy with the events of life, are some.
times prone to forget the own child.
ish experience, and colochildren be.
cause they are not more mature. Moth.
ing can be more wrong than this
You can wound child's sensibility
easily, and child feels the defeats
and disappointments of its little span
of life quite as forcibly, as keenly as
those which come to human nature OF
maturer years. You see it in the hu.
mid eye, in the quavering lip, the
broken, suppressed sob, and wher
very great, in the sudden outburst.
Give the child its Christmas pres.
ent, and in the giving Intervene 8
lesson that shall teach it the import.
ance to mankind of that glad sound
'Christos Anesti v-Sat. Eve. Post