The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1876-12-21
Christmas.

fist had laid aside his pencil but yesterday.
The sheep nesting in snowy heaps upon
the plain; the awe-struck shepherds kIeel-
ing before the heavenly messenger, whose
radiant garments reflected the glory from
whence he came; the sombre midnight
sky suddenly springing into MONDAY lus-
tire before the switJ-beating wings OF tile
angelic host; the still air throhbing with
the music of that celestial hymn whose
echoes will ring through all the ages, UNI
til Times frai bark sinks in the ocean Of
Eternity the stable in Bethlehem, conse-
Grated by the beginning of the grandest
life that ever blessed this sin and sorrow
stained world the Virgin Mother cinging
to the God born child; the rude manger
which cradled Him for whom tethsemane
and Calvary were waiting - how plainly
we see them all Generation after gener-
alton have taken up the fond tradition Of
redeeming love, fingered and Wept over
it, and transmitted it as the most precious
of legacies to those who came after ThA~.
ologians have wrangled over the mysleri-
Gus story, philosophers have smiled at it,
sceptics have doubted it; yet neither the
fierce championship Of bigotel friends, nor
the foolish SCOTS of vindctige toes. have
shaken ita hold upon the heart OF man-
Kind. That story, SD eEquisiteIv simple
yet so inetfably sublime, pulaatcs with :
life which can never die Since first Il
was told 4 thousand revolutions have
swept the face Of the earth; empires have
RISEN and fallen; tlynastirs have silutlcl
their hrlei hour and vanished away o,in.
IONS and us;%eS, once supposed to be H.
lnmoNabIe as the everlasting hills have
persisted utterly; IL LARGER ami nobler
Eno" ledge has dtwncd; upon the nations;
the whole intellectual structure of the race
has assumed another and broader phase Of
development yet amid I'LL tI.is wreck and
change the sweet legend survives. and
bears no traces Of the fiery trials through
which it has passed Nor is there the re-
hottest possibility that the future, what
ever fate it may have in store for the vast
majority of those beliefs that are now re-
gartleh with a pious vcnerat0n which
amounts to idolatry, will ever materially
diminish, much less demoISh, the gentle
fascination, the sacred and tender charm.
which make Christmas the holic>t and hap
piest day of all the year.
Anniversaries, religious and secular, the
world has in abundance; but there is only
one which seems to lit itself and its assoc
Citations above and beyond all national
iealousies, all sectarian prcjudicies, all the
petty interests and passions which mar the
brotherhood Of man ana draws spontane-
Gus tribute of reverential affection from
universal Christendom. Like the star that
guided the wise men Of the east, and event
before them till it came and stood over
where the young child was" Christmas
shines with such pure and perfect light
that all other anniversaries pale their in
eifectual fires" and every eye salutes the
soft and silyery rays which stream from
the day hallcwed by the memories of the
Saviour's birth. On this Christmas day.
then, if on no other, we can afford to re.
member our common origin and our COM
mon destiny; lay down the arms with
which We have been wa@ing liIie's bitter
battle, call a truce in the sharp conflict
which begins with The cradle and ends
only at the graye-,and clasp hands and
Join hearts while the white tiam waves
On this Christmas day. il on no other, we
can afford to forget the ambitie3s and an
imosltie9 which VeN the soul; despise
tune - lull to sleep the doubts and fears
which sometimes make Ell 3tencc Il burden
too heavy to be borne, refuse to take cog
nizance of the inevitable Tomorrow, with
its heritage Of cares and anyiete5 - and
drink our fill of peace aud JOY. And if
there are sad ghosts Of the past. OF grim
spectres Of the present, which will not
down at any human bidding on
this Christmas day they may Wear a kind
lier visage and speak in milder accents.
For this day, 80 calm, so bright the
bridal of the earth and sky"--is fall of
hope and promise Ii il dedicated to the
best part of our better nature; ii appeals
to those intllltiOns of Immortality implant-
ed in every human hre3a! 1t teaches Us
that the struggle which we call life is only
q prelude to a career free lrOln all ihe Oh
structions and mcumbrancrA which impede
and annoy Us here; ii tell IL; that even rs
from the stable and the lntn4"r i ktIrtn-
er rose, So may we, irnln the hard and
harsh surroundings and neNoIable III |tl
pine OF this lower sphere, look onward
and upward to u dignity and an honor
which sin and sorrow cannot touch, or
deatIsdestroy.
The testimony of General Sheridan in
regard to j Madison Wells, Chairman Of
the Louisiana Returning Board should
not be forgotten. Sheridan in lsG. re-
moved him from the Governorship Of
Louisiana, and at the same time wrote to
the Secretary of War as follows
/ say now unequivocaly, that Governor
Wells is political trickster and a dishonest
man. i Il | have watched him since, and his
conduct has been as sinuous as the mark left
in the dust by the movement of Il snake. | s;ty
again that he is dishonest. and dishonesty is
more than must be expected of me
Subsequently, writing to General Grant,
General Sheridan said of the same eminent
man
He has embarrassed me very much since |
came into command by his subterfuge and pc.
ltical chicanery. This necessary act will be
approved by every class aud shade of political
opinion here. He has not one friend who is IN
honest man.
And this is the man that by the Radical
scheme, is to decide who shall be next
PreSi lent of the 'nifp1 States