The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1881-12-28
WASHINGTON LETTER.
The Adjournment of Congress
Christmas MUSINGS.
From our Regular Correspondent. /

From Our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D. c., Dec. Oath, 1881.
Congress has adjourned for the hol-
idays, and we are in the midst Of
Christmas festivities, which are en-
joyed, by young and old, in more
whole-souled and thorough way than
they have been enjoyed at any time
since the great financial crash of 'T9.
The young rejoice in greater opu-
lence of presents, and their parents
are happy in their greater power to
give. There are no lack of those who
lament that Christmas is no longer
the series of happy festivals of by
gone years, but they belong to that
class who describe golden age which
exists only in the Imagination. 1t is
difficult to believe, in the face Of ocu.
lar demonstration, that there is any
decline in the appetite of the children
to-day; their laughter is as genuine,
their happiness as simple and spon-
taneous as ever. Nor are the young
folks. who are by this time too old to
be called children, so artificial as
some would have us believe. II is
true that their tastes are in certain
sense more extravagant than were
those Of their fathers and mothers at
the same age. The increase of ma
tional wealth has taught US all how
many pleasant things money can get
things not only pleasant in them
selves, but positively harmless, ex-
cept where the expense they entail
is selfish or unjustifable. The girls
know how pleasant it is to ride along
a ringing frosty road on well-train-
ed, easy,going pony; to drive fault
less horse in a pretty phaeton; to
have sleigh ready, should an excep-
tional fall of snow give opportunity
for it; and to be able to crafty that
most harmless of all tastes, the love
of what is pretty in itself, in new
dresses upon appropriate occasions.
The boys, too, know the delight of
shouldering gun, of bestriding a
bycicle, and of indulging in other
manly pursuits, the only drawback
to which that they cost money. But
because we have learned to appreci-
ate the almighty dollar, we have not,
on that account, become slaves to it,
and we may safely believe that the
hearts of our young folks are as true
as ever, their instincts as generous,
their appreciation of what is straight
forward, and simple, and loyal, as
keen as it ever was. And Christmas,
now more than ever, is the nme to
test such feelings. 1t is the time
when from every side. appeals are
made to US; the time when we can
all, each in his own way; do some.
thing at any rate to make others Hap.
pier. Even those who cannot give
in substance can spare their time and
trouble; and there are kindly words,
and deeds, and thoughts, more prec.
ious than gifts, and equally pleasant
both to those who give and those who
take. Day by day, as the dear old
festival draws nearer, memories and
associations cluster round US. We
are year older than we were, and,
though a year is but q short time in
itself, yet but q few years go to the
making of life. We are a percept-
IDLE step further removed from our
youth, with its many sided pleasures
and its restless vitality; a step nearer
to the last rest Of all, which those
need least dread whose life has been
happy because they have made hap.
py and bright the lives of others.
Christmas may change its customs
and habits, and Christmas in Wash.
ington in this year Of grace 1881, is
strangely unlike Christmas as it was
enjoyed in the days of the first Pres
ident and his immediate successors,
but the human side of the festival,
its interest and its sympathies, re-
main unchanged. Our hearts do not
change with our fashions, and with
the return Of Christmas have again
returned all that in our younger
days made Christmas gatherings &C.
casions to be long anticipated and
affectionately remembered.
G. A. S.
| GRANTS REJ,ATIVFS