The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1879-12-26

1t at once took root; It put forth lesyeI
and the next day 1t was covered witt
milk-white blossoms. After this II
bloomed every Christmas day, which In
those times came on the 9th of January
and not upon the 18th of December
After a time the people from around
London and from Buckinghamshire and
othir places began TO take slips from the
plant, and were greatly pleased to find
that each one possessed the miraculous
quality of the parent hawthorne; each
rooted at once and each bloomed on
Christmas only. Then it happened that
certain people who liked TO Fearrange
matters, began to meddle with the al
manac itself, and they altered the date
of Christmas aid all other well estab-
lished holidays. 1t was not q pleasant
change and it was troublesome to re.
member that the first of May now came
In April, but then--as now-no one ever
corrected an almanac. when the thorn
however, came 10 be discussed, some Of
the people said that 1t would bloom on
Christmas nc matter in what month the
day should come; for If it did not there
would be no significance atallini 1t. There
were others more doubtful who shook
their heads, and the end of it was that,
on the evening of December oath (new
style, the people from Quaintou, Buck.
inghamshire, where the Glastonbury slip
had grown and fcurished, started out,
two thou ssnd strong, and with lanterns
and candles went to zee IL the thorn had
budded. The night was clear and cold,
and the bush stood barren and bare.
There was no sign of bud or of blossom,
and no matter what the almaDacs said.
il was clear that the staff of Joseph of
Arimathea meant to keep Christmas
upon its own day. This at once decided
the people. In Quainton the church
bells rang, but the minister waited In
vain, the people did come; there were no
carols sung, the Mistletoe boughs were
not hung, and all the games were put of
until the real Christmas day should
come. Whether or not the thorn bloom.
ed on the 9th of January, or whether,
with changes, it left off bloom
ing altogether, tradition does not tell;
but one thing is upon record-the
Quainton people kept their Christmas
old style, and when it was found they
would do 90, even If all the other vii
lagos had done with mummers and carols,
and had settled down to common life
again, something had t. be done, and the
clergy from the country around decided
that the new Christmas certainly must
be kept, if things were ever to be made
even, but that the old one should also be
q holy-day and have its share of festival.
There is, in these times, no mistake
about our Glastonbury bushes. For
weeks they have been budding, and in
the forests, and along the country roads,
We meet happy faces with q certain
pleasant, mysterious expression, that
shows that the coming of the milk.white
blossoms Is in the air, and that they have
caught the scent. The people, still in
but not with lanterns or can
dies, but In q secrecy that but half con-
ceals, 90 on long, solitary expeditions
into stores, and carry home bundles
never too heavy or too bulky. The
children find the bureau drawers are
locked, and the closets cannot be opened,
and papa tells the little girl, who
lunches into heap as soon as he comes
into the room, not 10 sit in such fashion,
now Is an obtuse man TO know of the
slipper case and all the zephyrs she has
to conceal! The boy fingers in front of
the store windows, and with his friends
compare notes ON skates. He does not
expect to buy any for himself, but
knowing how little women know of such
matters, he wishes his mother would be
at the conference. Out at the "homes,"
where the old people sit close around the
stoves; at the children's asylums snd
the hospitals, the budding blossoms give
of coming burst of bloom.
1t is everywhere; the people who are so
happy that no festival can make them
gayer, and those whose hearts are so
heavy that ali days seem alike, still
catch the fragrance, and know that the
staff belonging to the man who carried
the Christ to the tomb is about to bios.
som on the day of His desth.-PrOgress.