The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-12-28
OUR wAsHrx0roS LETTER.
rrom our special correspondent.
WASHINGTON. Dec. "a, 1881.

WASHINGTON, Dec. "a, 1851.
Congress has adjourned for the
holidays, and we are in the midst Of
Christmas festivities, which are en-
joyed by young and old, in a more
whole-souled and thorough way
than they have been enjoyed at any
time since the great financial crash
of '73. The young rejoice in a
greater opulence of presents, and
their parents are happier in their
greater power to give. There are no
lack of those who lamentthat Christ
mas is no longer the series of happy
festivals of by-gone years, but they
belong to that class who describe a
golden age which exits only in the
Imagination. 1t is difficult to be-
lieye, in the face of ocular demon
stration, that there is any decline in
the appetite of the children to. day ;
their laughter is as genuine, their
happiness as simple and spontane-
GUS 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. 1t 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
national wealth has taught us all
how many pleasant things money
can get-things not only pleasant in
themselves, but positively harmless,
except where the expense they
entail is selfish or unjustifiable.
The girls know how pleasant it
is to ride along a ringing frosty road
on well-trained easy-going pony
to drive a faultless horse in a pretty
phaeton to have a sleigh ride
should an exceptional fall of snow
give oportunity for it; and to be
able to crafty that most harmless OF
all tastes, the love of what is pretty
in itself, in new dress upon appro-
pirate occasions. The boys, too,
know the delight OF shouldering a
gun, of bestriding bycicle, and Of
indulging in other manly pursuits,
the only drawback to which is that
they cost money. But because we
have learned to appreciate the al.
mighty 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 instinct rs generous, theil
appreciation of what is straight-for
ward, simple and loyal, as keen as
it ever was.
And Christmas, now more than
ever, is the time to rest 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 something at any rate to
make Others happier. Even those
who cannot give in substance can
spare their time and trouble and
there are kindly words, and deeds,
and thoughts, more precious than
gifts, and equally pleasant both to
those who give and those who take.
Day by day, as the dear old festi-
val draws nearer, memories and as
sociations cluster round us. We are
a year older then we were, and
though a year is but a short time in
itself, yet but a few years go to the
making ola life. We are a precept-
ible step further removed from oul
youth, with its many sided pleas
ures and its restless vitality +; step
nearer to the last rest of all, which
those need least dread whose life
has been happy because they have
made happy and bright the lives Of
others. Christmas may change its
customs and habits, and Christmas
in Washington this year of grace
1881 is strangely unlikn Christmas
as it was enjoyed in the days Of
the first President and his immedi.
ate successors, but the human side
of the festival, its interest and its
sympathles, remain unchanged. Our
hearts do not change with our fash
ions, anc with the return of Christ
mas have again returned all that in
our younger DAYS made Christmas
gatherings occasions to be long an
ticipated and afiectionateiy remem-
bered.