The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-12-28
CHRISTMAS LORE.
Some Notes From History About Christmas
Day and Its Observances.

How much worse OFF is poor McGinty,
Who lies buried in the sea.
Slug One.
Sadly the merchant
Balances his cash
And of the humid element
He speaks little rash.
He intimates that Heaven
Was trying to hoodoo
The Christmas present purchaser
With such heavy dew.
Rockford Gazette.
When the drifting SHOWS lie heavy,
All the world around:
When, meath mistletOe and holly,
Yuletde joys abound:
Then beside his glowing hearthstOne,
Scoring tempest's wrack,
Plays the farmer, happy farmer,
High-low-jack
-Ne,c York Tribune.
The initial observance Of the 18th
of December, as the birthday of the
Saviour of mankind, is generally
ascribed to julius, Bishop Of Rome,
A. ID. 337 to A. ID. 352, though the in
stitutiOn of this day as festival is
attributed to TelesphOruS, in the reign
of Antonius Plus, A. ID. l3S-l6l. There
are traces of the recognition of the
natal day of our Lord in the reign of
Emperor CommOdus, A. ID. 1912.
DiOCletian, a barbarOuS ruler of Rome
in A. ID. 2S4-3O5, learning that a null
titude Of Christians were assembled in
the city to celebrate the birthday OF
the Saviour, clOsednthe church doors
and fired the buildings, all the wOr-
shippers perishing in the flames. At
first, and for over three hundred years
after the death of the Messiah, there
was no uniformity in the period of OBJ
serving the nativity; some held this
festival in January: others in April,
and still Others in May. Previous to
this time, A. d. 337, when julius,
Bishop of Rome, had fixed the 18th
of December as the natal day, the
eastern wing of the Catholic Church,
afterward and now the Greek Church,
had kept the 9th of January as the
proper day for this festival. in cOmmem-
Grafton not only Of the birth but the
baptism, of Christ. But, Singularly
enough, before the end Of the 4th CEN
fury the east and west divisions of the
Church had changed dates, the west
ern taking January 9th as the date OF
his baptism, and the eastern adopting
the 18th of December as the true natal
day. or course says an eminent his
tOrian, the 18th of December is prObab-
ly not the true day of the SaviOurS
birth, which can not be ascertained
from the new testament nor any other
source. The cause which fixed this
period of the year for the festival was
the fact that in the Semi-equatOrial
regions the most of the heather and
many of the Christian nations regard
ed the winter sOlstice as the time when
nature takes on new life: the flowers
put forth their buds the leaves begin
to sprOut and the grass begins to
cover the earth with mantle of de-
lightful green. 1t was not until the
dom united on the same day-Decem-
Der 18th. The heather winter holt
days, the Saturnalia, the Juvenalia
and the Brumalia were transmitted in
to and sanctitied by the Christian cycle
Of Christmas observance, and along
with them were brought over a num-
Der of harmless customs, such as eX-
changing presents, the lighting of the
tapers, the Yule log, the boarS head.
garnished with branches of yew, holly
and sweet majOrum, the mistletOe and
music and other social enjoyments.
There are twelve days, which among
the old English, the Germans and the
Russians, were observed as holidays,
orholy days, beginning with Christmas
Eve and ending with January Sth.
This period includes st. Stephens day
dec. 26), st. Johns day Dec. ~, Mas
sacre of the InnOccntS dec. 2S), New
Year, the Circumcision of Christ, and
January 6,the present English Twelfth
Night, or Little Christmas. Says a
prominent authority: 1.-THE boars
head was esteemed "a dainty dish tit
fOy king and it was served up at
the Christmas feast, brought into the
dining hall smoking hot. ornamented
with flowers and ribbons and an apple
or an orange stuck in its mouth"
The Christmas tree is of German
origin and dates back to the earliest
conversion of some of that people to
Christianity by the first missionaries.
In order to make converts, they invest
ed ChriStmaS-tide with all manner of
songs, carols, etc, and
placed a green bush on every door, no
matter whether the persons within
were Christians or faithless. While |
the Constitution of the United States |
nor any of them sngly recognize God |
in words, still Christmas is legal hol- |
iday in all the Union.
The Christmas box was carried |
around by the small boy to receive
of pennies from generous
people. Here is mention Of this GUS
tom in an old Christmas poem
Gladly the boy, with Christmas box in hand,
Throughout the town his devious route pur- |
sues,
And of his masters customers implores
The yearly mite Often his cash he shakes, |
The which, perchance, of coppers few con-
sist,
Whose dulcet jingle fills his little soul with
joy.
All Christian people aim to recog-
nize the festival of Christmas with |
decoration of their places of
worship with evergreens and flowers
where Obtainable, and their devOtiOns
are especially directed to this occasion.
AS the birth of child in a family is
an occasion Of joy and happiness, so
the birth of the great Redeemer of the
lunrlH is m .l1 wit IA Sphlin,-