The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1881-12-29

|NI| |HII"fm"| WV "H||' W." f"|F|"'' i
mann lVfllnn beleeth hfhat Nhd loftd
onts nhd hsN 1etp Ne nv ~ Ne reunions
met have lua laheh plsce IN homes Nhsfe
lhiie jlad pefhaps lenr hen "slfil ~ Tho
louon N 4 sshlshsd hand " nllle eyes M
spattiIne oySl nswfuoa lfyhmrfes snd
I'D Ilsafls "A growing VAIN haeiD undef
lhe Ilsih sfSihof daya a4u me nalyeraI
feoltlos fAhothor bolIddy nidtninh. AID
yot wo foaf No srcak lnaecumtely when ~
NY q "univefsal feloicing" Indeed u seems
~ IfChfistmas In the contrasts which itpre-
scnis Of light and gloom remains truth.
fuzzy typical Of that event Of which
II Ia commentator. And In
Europe and America this morning,
wherever Is celebrated this Old holiday,
there arc hearts and homes whore the
shadows are rendered only the deeper by
comparison with tho air Of happiness
around aud outside. Aud freely and
bitterly will tears dow to-day as thoughts
arise OF the loved and lost who were pres
emit perhaps, TO bless and cheer on other
occasions of like character. And bitter
questionings Of mans humanity and Gods
charity and dark regrets and painful envy
ings, the evil brood of cruel reflections that
spring from want and sickness and dis
grace will go up this morning from
the haunts of crime and misfortune,
on the same sweet air that bears
upward the incense OF gladnesss and
thank sgying and love. And yet it has been
slways so. Indeed, if this Christmas which
we celebrate were personal and immortal
how stranger than fiction would be the his
tories it could relate of the curious blend
ing of night and morning in all the life OF
the past. But we venture the assertion that
each recurring celebration has witnessed a.
softening Of the asperities and gradual in
creasein the amenities ofman's conflict with
himself, with nature and with society.
From that morning when the star stood
still over the manager at Bethlehem to this
morning when we are rejoicing under almost
the full fruition Of its splendor, human
ity, philosophers, government, society, the
aggregate Of thought, have all undergone a
violent revolution, such a revolution, in
deed, as has left scarcely yestige of the
former regime Then The world bowed in
humility before an mperious Caesar, where
now il reverences in love Goddess of Lib
erty! Then it CROPPED 1.-THE darkness Of
selfish individuality, where now it basks in
the sunlight of a generous and universal
SYMPATHY Thenit gloried in the carnage
and desolation of battle and conquest, but
now it smiles'approvingly. only upon the
victories of peace. Then man was an ami
NAL and woman was his toy. Now the one
is an intellect and the other
his companion. That was the
age of superstition, this an age q
reason Then after all the preceding cen
turies of experienceiand enquiry blight
had settled upon the nations and retrogres-
sion was the order, but now an unbroken
progress reigns from pole to pole, from the
ancient Orient to the young West. There
was no hope nor future in the thought of
that day, but now under the light that was
kindled in the manger, humanity has
grown as strong and buoyant as young
giant. Mankind in its age has become
young again and the crude theories of its
youth remain only in the musty tones
upon the shelves of the book-worm. In a
word, Christ was pauper child, but now
He Is the Sun of three hundred million
people, under whose genial warmth
the charities have expanded and through
whose influence the priest has sup
planted the soldier in the subjugation of
man. Men may doubt the authenticity of
Christianity and they may worship Ma
homet, or Buddha, or Vishnu, or relegate
their existence to the play Of electricity, or
refuse to worship or believe anything, but
the fact must be admitted as less on of
indisputable history, that whether Divine
or not, the rough points in mans character
have been gradually polished and the sum
of humaa happiness and sympathy gradn-
ally augmented by the prevalence and
power of the Christian religion. The faith
that carries the Sister of Charity over the
field where battle has strewn its thousands
and presents the cross and cup fwater to the
victim of wars horrors. that erects hospi-
tails and homes of refuge, that smoothes
down the pillow of the dying paupers and
LAKES VIC StlDB OuV Vi tilC cACCutlOi vi tHC
is, whether real or fancied, one of
the most potent factors of civilization. In
view of these facts it is meet that Christ
mas should become the season and eccasion
of universal rejoicing. 1t is meet that
mans humanity to man should at this
time display its newest and richest dcyel
opment. And it is meet that new, os all
periods OF the year, when the 'hesrt is
opened by the presence and POSSESSION of
the tokens of the love and esteem Of others,
and quickenea into new pulsa-
lions by the electric currents
of common joy, that charity |
shorld be exercised tov-rda the low and !,
lonely, which Christ himself declared was
after all the truest and prrest religion of
which man was susceptible. These have no
homes whose peace and love and luxury |
soften the hard struggles life. No friends |
whose encouragement and sympathy can
strengthen the tired arm or raise the droop- 1
ing head No honors or means with which
they canepsrticipate in the general festival. |
They stand without under the glare Of the
palace windows and Il seems that the
better impulses Of any upright heart would
dictate, with them, a.division Of the "sli-
cacies Of the feast. The present year abo 'e
all others, it;seems to us. has been distin-
guished by unsvcrsal good feeling and an
spirit OF charity, and Christ
mas 1881 ought to mark an era in the
Of man" The nations are at
peace, prosperity is worldwide, civilization
is broader aud more progressive than ever
before, and this holiday morning dawns
upon humanity with greater promise than
il ever gave before. IL Is with unfeigned
sincerity therefore that We exclaim. "A
Merry Christmas 70 Mn Mfrrr