The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1886-12-23
HUGH McNICOL,
From Whom We All Re-
,jOice to Hear,
Treats Us to a Few Lines After
the Manner of Holiday
Contributors,
Rut Written a Style Particularly
,Yugh McNicops Own and
Nobody Else's.

OlauS " pass s'A AAo oPS~"A '
tury after century it has gone spinning
along its orbit, carrying its countless
freightage of humanity nearer and near
er to its destination. There is no bad
ballasting on this road, no jar from
faulty machinery or Improper grading,
no hot. boxes on this train. The con-
ductor minds his business md the train
dispatcher makes no errors. We are all
aboard. Where are we going? Let's
get timetable and find out absat this
road. Turn over the pages OF yourhable
and you find that the train has been run
ming 1886 years, and foot-note tells yo1
that it ran before that under another
schedule-how long, no one knows. On
your map you find the route of the line
running far back into the territory OF
uncertainty. In the land Of the present
the tracing grows faint, and near the
borders of that uncertainty into which
we are running the line disappears.
Just this side the confines Of uncertainty
is the depot of death. Whether we will
or not we are going right on with irresist-
able speed. Pilgrim, where are you 60
ing? There are no functions and no
stop.over tickets on this road; and the
train whistles for no crossings. This
train started from the platform OF cre-
atien and is due at the gateway of eter.
nifty. All around us are other planets
on other orbits-other celestial railways,
all trending to the grand central depot
of the unknown. Our track is laid in
the depths of infinite space and our train
rushes on from the dark uncertainty
which lies behind to the darker uncer.
| tainty which lies before.
Amid all this uncertainty there is a
natural longing to reach out and take
| hold Of something stanch and real-not
a "barren ideallty"-and know of moth.
ing which answers the purpose better
than the hind leg of Christmas turkey.
No man with his mouth jammed full OF
,acaroni or chicken.salad is going to
pu szle his brains out puzzling over the
mys teries of existence. Bryant's rem.
edy f'r the blues is:
"Go forth under the open sky
.\nd list to Natures teachings"
but say go to the pantry and eat straw.
berry sho, t-cake with sugar scoop. Oh
course, tast, IS diAer. You and Bryant
can try the uen-sky schemeif if you want
to, but if my Wan don't work you can
get measured for coffin at my expense,
and pay for it.
"Christmas con ,es but .Snce year"
am glad it comes rs oftan as that. The
extent of its obser> 'ance amSng the ua'
tions lies near to tn limit of the infu'
ence of Christianity in the woriI In it
we celebrate the Dirt h-day of that Man
for whom no man is capable to write a
eulogy. The heroes Of past ages appear
little better than but chers under the
searching light that tn e civilization oi
nineteenth century thl ows back upon
their lives and deeds. The Swedish
nightingale did more { ood with her
singing than Alexander d. ID with his con-
quering hosts. Lewellyn' sdog deserves
a grander monument than frances cruel
emperor. But, when place in contrast
with Jesus of Nazareth, all the mighty
monarchs and titled tyrants OF twenty
five centuries dwindle into tn G basest in
significance, and become m ere pawRs
before the king-row on the C, hess-board
of existence. If you are an a. tmirer o'
great men, kneel at the shrine of that
Man who was more of phil ,osophez
than Plato, whose wisdom wa S more
wonderful than Solomon's, who ee elo'
quence was more powerful than .;he sill
yer tongue of Cicero or the dig nified
diction of Demosthene On Christmas
day it is we'll that the church should be
open and the market should be closed
it is we'll that the forge should cool, that
the hammer should rest, that commerce
should cast anchor, and that the pulse
of manufacture should cease to beat; it
is we'll that courts and congresses and
common people should stop to study the
wondrous wisdom of the Eternal Plan,
and that friends and families should
gather round the table furnished by the
hand of that Sovereign to whom the day
is consecrated. Be thankful. Let the
merchant balance his ledger and make
out a receipt in full to the providence OF
God. There is no man but owes debt
of gratitude to the Almighty that has
been bearing compound interest at five
thousand per cent. per annum since his
first birthday. Honor your notes and
square your accounts. The basest wretch
that treads the soil of earth may be
thankful that he is not dead and damned.
l do not favor an unduly festive
Christmas. no not proffer indulgence
to the German who begins imbibing
Christmas early in the morning and
keeps on till toward the close of the day;
he is so full of it that he can't hit the
sidewalk with his hat once in ten
throws. / do not excuse the Irishman
who celebrates his Christmas with
whisky straights till his legs get as crook.
ed and tangled as hat-rack. do moi
approve of that kind of Christmas
which brings men into Mayor Harman'i
court NEXT morning. looking "a il thew