Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1875-12-25
CHRISTMAS TIDE.

OF all the days in the year, meme has
I the welcome that Christmas has. How
many litde hearts are beating eagerly,
the world over, in anticipation of il be-
/ fore it comes; how many little eyes are
/ sparkling as they open under its gray
dawning; how many little feet are patter-
I ing over the floors to rifle the full stock
ings that await them; how many older
hearts are full OF gladness with thought
OF the happiness they have prepared Tor
those who have an unknown way TO tread
before them, the beginning Of which
shall be made rs ckeery as love and care
can render j.. s
What pretty rosy Gordon Of blossom
ing cherub faces and curly heads il is
that encircleS the snowy orb upon that
Christmas mOrningi What q strain of
music it is, in the happy cries and laugh
ter and singing voices Of the little peo-
pie, that goes up 10 join the great song
of the stars.
For ourselves, we coniess il, no day in
all the calendar seems half so bright; the
happy hope and promise OF an April
morning, the sunShins and birds and
blossoms of a day in June, the mellow
glories of an Indiaa summer afternoon,
are as nothing beside the brilliancy and
jOyousness Of Christmas. Clouds can not
duh it, storms cannot obscure IL; its ira
]
good cheer; its actual presence at length
IS like a benedictiOn.
There is something peculiarly fitting in
the domestic character of Christmas fes-
tiVities, for it is the one day absolutely
set apart by Christians to the idea of Del
", to the loving and adOring recognition
of the paternal rule of the Creator, and,
by those who are not Christians and vet
live in Christendom, TO the cOmmemOra-
j - n.
happy and VirtuUus homes possible and
universal wherever they are obeyed. And
it seems like the natural evolution Of
events that in orthodox and Arian house.
holds alike the whole family should
maintain the point of clustering about
the hearth, making as it were an Offering
of happine' greater than the smoke of
sacrifice. and keeping the day with 4 joy
Gus gratitude To Eeaven for its love and
Z blessing.
is not strange that according to the
different nationaiityO the people should
the observation of this happy day be va
1 ried-the Norwegian way differing from
/ the Russian, the Russian from the Ital-
/ ian. the Italian from the German, the Ger
( man again from the Briton, while we in
| America adopt mingling Of all-thesv
keeping the celebration At the seven
I churches with midnight, daylight and
morning mass, with representations OF
manger and maSi, and the singing of the
offices by the priests and the chOirs of
children; those uphOlding the merry
( English ports; but the majority reserv-
I ing the more foreign Christmas tree for
public occasions, and hanging the stock
/ ing from the chimney-piece, under the
/ supervision Of the gentle and English st.
! Nicholas. at home. What pleasure has
gone to the filling of those stocking
I the filling to such OyerhOwing that shelf
l above and floor below are sometimes call
/ ed into reuuisition, What whispering,
what secrecy, what calculations, wat
hidden purchases, what staying o. nights,
I what early rising before the rest, what
/ sitting shivering in the cold 10 DO the un-
/ guessed work, what smiles from the
Young at thought Of the astOnishmenl
and pleasure they would give, what tears
I from the old at remembrance of the
Christmases that are gone with the dust
Z and ashes or youth What = world OF
( feeling i wrought into that wOrk-au
[ embroidery that only the sympathetic
I shall see. What shadows slide mysteri-
. OusIy about the house on Christmast-eYe
I when the church bells are done ringing
[ their gla.l peal on the crisD air, How
I deep and dark, if ySu are outdoors, is
/ that heaven above: how white and spark
I ling the snow; how the little faces are 70
be seen pressed against the cold pane, as
7 If their owners almost expect 70 see the
angels coming again in a shining throng,
I ''While glory shOne around; how widely
/ open are the little eyelidS pinned; how
/ every body pretends TO know nothing OF
I what is going on; what real phantOms OF
Hthe Christmas gifts dance round the pill
lows NJ last. And iii the morning, what
/ impatience. what ecstasy. HOW-the nm
/ gers :remble as the most precious thing Is
found folded in layer aftsr Of wrappiRgs
| and hidden in the toe for n surprise
l What roguish audacity has planted a can
/ dy cane in papa's stocking, a candy slip
per in mamma's, what fun there is in the
I toy trumpet in Uncle Johns, what awful
admiration of the jewels in Aunt Nary
I Yes. Christmas belongs to the little folks.
I 1t is they who received the special bless
I ing; it is they who make the celebration
/ of the day most peculiarly their own; il
I is they 10 whom in certain of the German
I churches a sermon is particularly preach
ed, TO heer wkick they march in order
each carrying a little burning taper III
the little hand-a lovely procession of the
innOcents; IL i they who are so happily
deceived by the legends tsat row are knll
about the Christmas season, who, after
their own deception, help 30 eagerly iI
that of others; il IS they who cherish al
the romance OF the day history, lis poe
try, and its solemHity; II Is they who