The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1879-12-14

crown of thorns that n succession OF Christ
mas days would have, inevitably, brought
to the brows Of a man, poor as he. The
eliminating point of evil resulting from
this curious and much abused custom, we
assert, is where the little ones are taught,
from their earliest infancy, that there is
patron Saint for them that comes every
Christmas Eve and deposits for them the
rewards of their good or bad deeds The
facts will not sustain the oft repeated story
that it gives all the children so much pleas
urc. On the other hand there are few par
ents, indeed, who do not have the little ones
laying in the complaint that such and such
a boy has "boots with tops heap higher
N mine, and l know I'm gooder en- he is
cause he told his teacher he never whispered
in school, and he did, too, cause seed
himm Or fearful little daughter
where heart is all but broken because
"Tilda's dolls sure-nuff wax and mines
nothing but china; and papa, you know
she pinched. her little baby brother"
A thousand childish griefs this UNI
pardonable nonsense cngenders in the
heart of the best, most conscientious and
most honorable little girls and boys.
And is 1t any wonder when they see the
very plsymates of whom they know
the worst, probably, they know of
any one, with the handsomest and most
expensive rewards that these are
the children who Santa Clause loves"
Ii there is any respectable tradition TO
which can be traced tins expensive and not
always too satisfactory to the giver or recciy-
or, custom Of ours, let us, at least, divest
il of its horrors-let us save our little ones
the notifications and griets we now bring
upon them by telling them the truth.
Shall they hold us in higher esteem or
love US the more when they come to
know that We have taught them falsely?
Shall we not rather set them the
example We would have them follow--that
of truthfulness and fair dealing Shall
our babies love US the less because they
know thatwE are the only Kriskindle. that
WE think of their little wants and try 10
give them all the nice things our means
will afford? Grandpa and grandma, auntics
and sisters, papa and mamma are the blessed
Santa CLAUS Of our house full Of boys and
girls, and they are all sufficient. No need
to try to mislead the youngest of our flock
on tins question-all their lives they have
been told who loved them well enough to
send them this or that, nor are their little
hearts ever troubled by the thought that
Santa Claus is unjust TO them; or cmbit-
tered by the sight Of playfellow's hand
somer toy, for they know we love them
know we do all we are able to do; and
should the day ever come when Christmas
presents are beyond their reach, they will
have no ch,ldish misgivings Of little sins
to do penance for, but will Just simply
know that papa cannot afford it, which
will never be so hard to bear as the thought
that some forgotten little prayer or
some thoughtess slip of the tongue
some innocent little flo, the like Of |
which they hear duplicated by older folks,
every day Of their lives, has been the cause |
Of this, to them great punishment. The |
whole system is cruel and unjust to the
children, we aver; even TO those favored /
few who are certain TO have all that can
please and crafty them, for they, not I'M
naturally, become fully inflated with the !
idea that they must be in every way superior
to their poorer ncighborS, else why this
distinction made by old Santa Claus, who
watches over all the little boys and girls
and brings the good ones his very prcttiest
things2 Will some one who knows please
to enhghten US as to where and how the
custom of making Christmas presents orig
inated2