Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1884-12-24
CHRISTMAS.
Chino, chime; merrily chime,


Bells of the happy Christmas time;
Wake with your music the echoes that sleep,
Where the gray mountains their solemn watch
keep;
Ring out your gladncss DER hillside and main;
Ring till the New Year bells echo the strain;
Toll for tho Old Years record of wrong.
Wall for its losses in agonized song;
Chant glad pean for victories won,
And an anthem of hope for the days that will
come"
We are once more upon the eve Of tic
day which, 10y universal consent, is ccle-
brated as the anniversary of the birln of
the Prince Of Peace, All occasion, though
neglected and frowned at during certain
epoch- cf Our planets turbulent history, is
now looked forward to with joyous an;ci
pations wherever Intelligence ard ci,i'izl
ton predominant. That one day in The
three hundred and sixty five shot,ld he SD
dedicated seems proper, and if, a. the bulk
OF God fearing people believe, the earth
is yet, through its Mighty Redeemer, to be
renovated and made TO blossom as the rose,
it is but natural that the day of His birth
should be time when we should dvest our
selves Of worldly aims and ambitions, and
enjoy temporarily the blessings which have
more or less been showered upon US all,
while we contemplate the dawn of the day
when earth's tumults shall Cease. and the
heavenly chorus sung DER Juhca by angelic
choristers more than eighteen hundred
years ago will be taken up by men. and the
earth become full of The glory Of the Lord.
But while our own souls are Astounding in
the festivities of Christmas times and hap
piness and good cheer reign unbrdled
around our hearthstoues, the words Of Him
whose birth is the occasion Of it all should
not be torgotten-"The poor We have al
ways with you''-for while 'leasting, light
laughter and mirth" will be the order Of
the day in so many instances, what a re-
verse will the state of things present in
other laces We read in the Good Book
that after the miraculous deiverance Of
Gods ancient people from the cruel machi-
nations of Hannah that the Jews assembled
themselves together and made the four
teeuth day of the month Adar day Of
"gladness and feasting, and Il good day,
and of sending portions one to another"
Esther tx, 19) And the anniversary Of
this Divine interpositon, though instituted
several centuries before the dawn of our
era, is still kept in every cline where REIN
nants of the chosen race are TO he found.
Should not we, who have been ransomed
from the meshcs of one more powerful than
Hannah, show the same appreciation by
considering those whom grim misfortune
has consigned 10 toll, trouble and perjury
The fact, too, that we will celebrate the
birth of One whose temporal wants were
very few and simple-who was Graded in q
mauger and oft with no pillow save the
sod-should be reminder that sensuality
and gluttosy are to be sLrenu0usy avoided.
It may not be nopportune, also, to remark,
for the benefit of the young more especially,
that there will be many things displayed &c
charm end dazzle beyond the reach Of some.
Let all be thankful for such things, how
ever humble they may prove, that kind
Providence may have sent them, and let the
hest feeling prevail.