The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-01-03
. Disgruntled Editors Christmas
H0mily.

December 25, A. ID. 1877. A dismal.
disheartening, day-long drizzle, soaking
into the very souls of men; air murky
with earth-born vapors and loaded with
the sulphurOus stencil of burning gun
powder; street-crossings ankle-deep in
muck; women holding a draggled train
IN the left hanf and the handle of an
umbrella in the right, while their inter-
fering heels carried the mud far ND
their red stockings and splashed it over
the bit of white skirt revealed: FIVE
hundred callow youths in helmet hats,
who preierred caroms to carols, punch
ing ivory in steamy billiard-rooms;
thousands of excited children beating
drums, footing horns, exploding stink
making contrivances, and adding in ev-
cry way to the general din; sweet peals
OF church organs mingling with human
voices; the breaking loose of the long
pent-up agony of Christ Church chimes,
with their splitting and nerve-rack-
ing jangle; fuddled men in stuffy GIN
mills poisoning themselves with alcohol
because Christ was born eighteen hum
dred years ago, while their hollow
eyed wives crooned to sick babies in
squalid homes; candy-smeared infants
bowling with the collie; and so on for
quantity. This was Christmas. For
this Christ was born in a manger, be-
meath the stars of Judea, while the start
led beasts dropped their long ears in
awe-stricken wonder and the wise men
from the East came with myrrh and
spices. For this he was crucified be- |
tween two thieves. A Christian festival, 1
converted into pandemonium of noise, |
which puts to shame the beaten tom
toms and gongs of the pig-tailed celes- /
tials-a day of excess in eating and /
drinking day to be dreaded, instead /
of looked forward to. "Christmas
comes but once year, Thank heav- /
en- for that! How did this Internal din |
ever come to be Incorporated into a
Christian festival, anyhow? Is gun
powder in any way embematic of him I
who brought "Glad tidings of great Joy 1
peace on earth and good will to men, !
of Christ, the gentle, the patient, the
long suffering? Is the abominable fire.
cracker a means of grace. We put these
questions as conundrums. Doubt
less our readers will give
them up at the start, But
it does seem to us that the Christmas .
festival has been perverted in a way
that amounts to barbarism. If a man
feels glad that Christ was born and died |
to take away the sins of the world, does
he honor him by swilling beer in sa-
loon? Is it meet that his nine-year-old .
should express ms thankfulness for
Christ by exploding fire-erackers in the
faces of pedestrians? How many men /
who make Christmas a day of riotous
excess ever think of Christi The day
is, if possible, more trying than the
dreadful Fourth of July. And, with .
only seven days intermission, we arctic 4
have a repetition Of it in the shape of /
the New Year folly. The devout men 1
who got drunk on Tuesday last, because T
Christ was born, will get drunk on
Tuesday next, because they are one 4
twelvemonth nearer their final doom.
And so it goes in this mad world.-In-
Saturday Herald
ANEW HAVEN Conn., paper relates
the following of Louis Rowland, resi-
dent of that city: On the night of Tues
day, December 1, he dreamed that he .
had received an indianapolis paper an
his fathers death. The dream /
made sucb an inl1rpSSiOn on his mind /