Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1884-12-26

George W. Cable ii AZ Chicago Currentl
Inc quarter Is ain best, for presents
are many and labor h, scome an UNDECIDED
mendicant. Come vat may, they of the
quarter" will not worln christmas time.
The plantation year1ded With ths going
out OF yesterdays suniiue, and hints which
have been increasing I'd STRENGTHENING for
weeks and months cutinated ia the depart.
ing light and develop, mo assiduous. per
sistent, systematic deuion to the acquis.
ton Of Christmas IL |" wherefore the
promises of "Pil ketci ou in de mawnin,"
have been redeemed. d lhe gifts be never
more numerous, yet the resources. the
genius, the marvellous Iilily of the plauta-
ton negro for blunt tgipg of everything
that catches the eye Drills DO elude the i'm
aginalion are undiminisd, and these, with
all the capacity of There for defying star
walton with lazy smihconct nitrate around
Christmas week--lhe jilee of getting and
not doing.
Tue day itself is me,than merely the
ending of the year az the gift season to
them. 1t is the one Ariy epoch of their
lives. Let the season what 1t may of the
four, the one utterances u lows to do dis
or II lows to go dah-x' Chrismus."
Then, too, it is astoshlng to hear how
many dusky pckauinntars torn on Christ
mas. The children of . rhces round them
make their appearances terra frma at all
seasons. But your litl bright eyed, bow
legged, grinniug darky the plantation is
sure to tell he was "baysd d Christmas"
The Christmastide is lso the one great
choice of times for naming and getting in
marriage.
Many "shote" has Ia carefully guarded
and thoroughly glutted preparation many
a chicken has been run twn aud exchanged
at the cross roads storer calico aud beads
and pinohbeck j4welr Many a mule,
mauled, coaXed, spurreand sworn at, has
unwillingly borne bis pugh companion 10
the neighboring couDt!Ieat for n "licen', "
after rubbing him neH ont OF the crazy
old saddle tree againsfenees, sheds and
what not, aud then Eted the homeward
way, unurged, through Oh little path that
shorteDs the route fraon.
And then the wedding Cupid is there in
ebony, walnut, mahoga and poplar.
On some plantations 10 as yet the custom
to have the drama ensad ~ the house Of
the planter, where the re cOlored love god
is made jolier by colrtnership with his
cousin from Caucasus. at That savors too
strongly of the old day so the anticipated
evening finds an asseuy gathered at "the
quarter" IA
From the crowd of grning men aud sim
pering women there rise contused medley
of expressions and phns and words such
as would almost craze Va or Harvard. But
they abruptly cease ere is a rustic of
skirts, a murmur Of vols, and sliding of
stools and rickety chs on the ill fitting
floor, and the contractiu parties halt before
the dispenser of bliss oolored preacher
and the magic ceremW begins.
1t is thing of itseN ia Ike is never
heard or seen elsewhere IL seems TO be an
ebon Gree Who has begled rhetoric, orato-
ry, sanctity and wisdom nth her siren cup
aud transformed them iHi leering imps
The "licen" is examinl and duly anthem
ticated the necessary Initial queries are
made and met troth il Eghied in ludicrous
parody, and the queer cGpound of immense
coat, aspiring trousers flowing crsvat, a
wonderful array of shug teeth, and tre-
mendous phraseology, loupces in solemn
''Ef any man have 'jss ause TO why dis
hyeh man an dis hyet oman shall not be
done made husban' an Faife, discharges
him dat he do now sps6 O. else forebbah
hyehaftah behor his pea"
81 the deed is done. ir0tesque aud alb
surd perhaps to some, Il none the less as
full with keen enjoymeDiInd admiration to
these as the feast aud dals that follow.
Thus the glad Chris,as comes aud ia
spent.