St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-01-14
Letter from BROOKLYN.

keeping up appearances, when detected
by Il mcddlcs"nc ncighbor (who ever
had ANY that we've nOt) c;itin" hasty
claims. always to eat roast turkey
makes one sick - So | suppose ALWAYS
to hc il the midst of Christmas fe>tir-
itirs would give one Il dySpeptic soul
and body. but coming to us only once
in il year these holidays are wonderful
ly welcome.
ION people vino are clothed in purple
and fine linen, and who fare sumptuous-
| lE every day, can afford to aalue them
lightly but We who spend the most of
onl time i'll boarding schools. and board
/ In% houses. subsisling on food no cleaner
and hardly us paatable rs did Lazarus
oi old. herald these daNS of relaxation
with pleasure. SO when an invitation
came to me t" lay aside every weight
and visit BroohlH gladly accepted
the invitation; and that | might be in
time Tor the Christmas music. betook
myself to the city of churches and
scandal ON Friday.
/ Passing through Sodom came
We're rcsplcndtnt with decorations of
all kinds for the next day. Though
men consider themselves entirely COM
pelcmt to attend to the decoration and
adornment of their own houses with
trc>cocs. paintings and the like, this
gIamdrst day of all. calls for Gods
ad"lnnent OF beautiful evcrgreens. holly
and gI"und pine, and the garlands
crosses. and other devices made of them
we've right pretty. This WAS the great
night for rhil,lIcn. Thousands of bright
eyes and cagcI. little hands watched for
and graSpcd the gifts of dear old Santa
Claus. The children of this age aIe
Ger: ing this old friend of our chillhoud
The molcs the pity. too. DO let the
dear little things have whatever is fan
cliul and poetic and mysterious to think
of. for Heaven knows that soon enough
the gold and glitter will wear of, leav-
ing nothing but sounding brass and
am reminded of the story of the little
giIl who un mentioning Santa Claus.
/ WAS told 10y her mother that She must
not talk amy more about him. for she
was old enough tn understand there
| was II" such person. Fixing her keen
! little eyes OH mamma. she said: ''llaVe
| You been telling me lies about Jesus
! Christ. too -
One would hardly imagine from the
| p"mp and circumstance attending the
observance of this particular Christmas.
I that for two Years Il horrible nightmare
of poverty and Suffering had been hang
ing over the nation. and that hundreds
of poor creatures were actually StarN-
ing. 1t is well that in spite of the
panic. this day can lie 81 beautifully
kept in remembrance. for is not Christ
our only Saviour. and is it possible to
,Io linn too much honol
Most Protestant churches come up
slowly 10 the proper observance of this
wonderful birthday. 1t seems as
| though each church should give the
lou,lcSt possible peans of praise to the
| adorable Son of God. on this occasion.
and should only he satisfied when they
have to the farthcst extent of their
ability celebrated the day.
We chose to worship Christmas morn
ing i'll the Church of the Messiah, be
cause there WAS to he heard the best
music in the city. Miss ThurSby. the
great soprano Soloist, whom so many
consider superior to nilsson, gave us
the pleasure of listening to her rarely
voice. The cornet. played us only Al
buckle can play it. deepeneL the en-
joyment and helped us the more easily
to praise the Father. son and Holy
Ghost. Dr. Budington's choir did noble
service in the choluses, and added to
all. from the organ
| There WAS such music sweet and grand,
| That il seemed as though the notes touched
by an angel hand
Practical! commOn- sense asserts ItScli
though. aud compelS me to state for the
benefit of SpiritualiSts, that the organist
WIS an ordinary specimen. seemingly
fond of lager and strong cheese. kneel-
iu.r on crimson velvet cushions. while
the organ played only those low and
fender chords suitable to the time, We
comnemor:ltcd our Saviour's dying
love.
But such week of darkness and
gloom outside as followed. Such al
active business time for undeItakers
For seven days. with the exception O
nm hour or two. the sun did not con
descend to shed its cheering beam:
uuou the earth. Persons of gloomy
Temperament positively refused to at
TEMPT ANYTHING like cheertulness, while
those who believe that "a merry hear
moketh cheerful countenance,' don
' ming the gaycst garments they possess
ed. told funny stories, ana by thei
genial good humOr contrIved to live
and help others to live through thu
f,,ere,J week. Friday came-the las
' dav of the old year-and proved Jus
s,,,h =, d,v ,s the others had been