The Dawson journal., 1884-12-25
CHRISTMAS.

ed, around which crowd thousand
memories for each one of us.
This morning ushers in the time
honored festival when age, smil-
ing on the infant at its knee, re-
wives IN memory its own youth; :;
when youth revels in the ioy
which grasps the present and be-
lieves in the future, and when
middle age forgets the burden
and heat of the day in it's sympa-
thy with the repose of the one
and the glad energy of the other.
How full of associations is the
recurrence of this great holiday?
How many have had their tender
est sensibllities aroused in memo
ry of those far away Christmas
times In distant years, and may
hap III far away lands, when
''Ihe Christmas lights were burning
bright
In many village pane
when there came on the eve of
nativity those musical waits, wax
ing you out of the dreams of
heaven with the notes of strayed
angels. In every hamlet and city
In this great land and over all the
Christian world busy fingers have
been working gifts for the day of
good will-the blooming flower
garden in the dull plodding
thoroughfare of life, the one time
in the year when petty animosities
are put aside, the day which pre-
serves that golden era in which all
of us, whether skeptic or saint,
have sometimes believed, when
love shall prevail against hate.
How often we come suddenly up
on some bit of faded needlework,
the gift of a Christmas gone by,
which is as fragrant of pleasant
memories as treasured rose leaves!
Doubly dear are these gifts of
handiwork. The needle is the
natural refuge of a woman
When she is most weary she will
pick up her needle. Many hope
less grief, many a weary heart
ache has been sewed away. What
thoughts, what fancies have float
ed through her mind while she
sewed the bit of fancy work for
our Christmas gifts.
The Christmas festival is the
most enjoyable season Of the year,
and by far the most pleasant of all
our anniversaries. How many
dynasties have decayed, empires
vanished, nations disappeared,
creeis changed, temples crumbled
since the foundations of this an
niversary were laid? How much
Of wreck and ruin will the world
witness before these foundations
are shaken and the superstructure
ov erthrown? Indeed, we cannot
imagine any revolution deep and
strong enough to accomplish such
a work. An institution which no
law protects and no government
sustains, it has seen the beginning
of the laws and governments that
rule the most enlightened portion
of mankind, and may see the end
of them all and still live. It's fit
ness to survive has been glorious
| ly demonstrated thus far, and
there can be nothing in the future
to destroy it. Floating safely and
serenely over so many stormy seas,
the bark laden with heavenly love
and human hope can never sink.
Although Christmas originated in
Christianity, and draws from that
source all of its sacredness and
much of its strength, it has to a
certain extent, at least, passed be-
yond this limit. Many, if not all
the sects, and even the infdel,
gladly hail this day because il
furnishes an outlet for those
broad sympathies, those gener-
Gus instincts, those tender feel
ings, those unselfsh impulses that
adorn and dignity our common
humanity and Lift us into a clearer
and holier atmosphere. The fact
that the observance of Christmas
no longer depends exclusively up
on any kind of ecclesiasticism is
the best evidence of its inherent
worth and beauty, the best proof
of its unconquerable vitality The
festival which can unite with its
golden chain all sects and shades
| T. - Ill -. :. Ii L. -