The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-12-23
.GHRSTMAS'S MEANING
10 Rich and Poor-1t is the Chill
dren's Milestone.
DEAREST OF ALL HOLIDAYS
To Them and Next After Them to
Those Who Have Never Lost the
childish Heart..Joysof Givlng-En-
terlng Into Homes of pestitution.

Childish Heart..JoySo of Giying-En-
terine Into Homes Of Destitution.
leoPsnioH1ED, 1872, ~ CHRISTINE TERauSE HER
RicK.1
Christmas is probably the only festi-
val Of the church that receives almost
universal recognition. The Observance
Of Easter becomes yearly more general.
but IL still falls far behind The Birth
day in popularity. Saints days are
practically unknown except to Roman
Catholics and TO some E~piscopalians;
but from Greenland's ICY mountains
to India's coral strand" wherever the
Christian religion has been preached,
Christmas is the ioY-time Of the year.
II was not always So. The memory
81 man readily goes back tothe time
when Christmas was as nothing to
New Englanders, in comparison with
Thanksgiving Day. In some hearts
the Puritan festival still holds the first
place, but the Christmas feast follows
hard after il.
There are many reasons for this. To
the deyout souls theday commemorates
the birth OF the Poace-Bringer, and
there is an undercurrent of unspoken
ioyin their hearts that is not due to
the outward and visible signs Of Christ
To the poor it is one Of the few bright
spots in a long and dreary winter-a
season when the well-to-do open their
hearts and hands and send bounty into
the homes Of the hungry.
CHRISTMAS IS DEAREST TO CHILDREN.
To the children-ah. what is 1t not to
the children2 1t is their golden mile
stone, the Landmark from which they
measure everything. AS soon as they
stop looking back to n Christmas,
they begin looking forward to another.
An atmosphere Of mystery-always de-
lirhtful to a child-enshrouds the
Yule.tide. It is more than a family
gathering and a big dinner and pres
ents and candy unlimited. It is the
Christ-Child and Santa Claus, elves
andfairies, singing angels, and kneellng
cattle, worshipping shepherds and gilt:
bearing Magt, a star,of Bethlehem and
a manrer. "a sleigh full of toys and
eight tiny reindeer" all blended in the
blfssful confusion impossible outside Of
a child's brain, that knows not rever-
ence or irreverence, but best ows wonder
and love withimpartial generosity upon
Christian story aud pagan myth.
So it Is, after all, to the children that
Christmas is dearest. Next after them
tits most loved by those who have never
lost the childish heart, those greatly to
be enyied ones who still feel "Christ-
mas in their bones" as the holiday
comes around, and rejoice in the Joy Of
others more keenly than in their own
happiness; for the true meaning Of
4Christmas is lost as SOC as the element
Of selHshness finds a place in the cele-
bration. Even the children soon learn
this. and they are defrauded,if this les
sonis not early and tenderly brought
home to them. They must not be de-
priyed of the joys of giving, and they
will not be slow to learn. that their
merry-making Is sweeter and gayer for
the thought that by sending happiness
into the homes Of the needy, they have
made themselves one with the spirit Of
the Founder of the teast-day, whose
whole life was one continuous gift The
sweet solemnity Of the thought will not
cloud the mirth. It will, if It is rightly
taught and apprehended, be the brim-
ming drop in the cup OF happiness OF
old and young.
THE sgLFIsH AND SOLITARY SHRINK.
To one or two classes of people, Christ
mas brings little or no ioy. The selfish
and the solitary shrink 'FRONT.' it. To the
former its Observance would mean a
drain upon purse and sympathies that
he. does not wish to meet. 10 the latter
1t brings contrasts too sharp not to be
painful.
With the selfish, manor woman
can do little. If the gentle example,
the kindly word fail to move him, one
can 90 no farther; butthe solitary when
.'aet in families" is no longer solitary,
and there are few home-keepers who
donot have it in their power to admit
at least one guest to the Christmas din
ner. No one but Just such lonely one
car, tell just what such a taking In"
means to him or to her.
aoh. Christian, openthy heart and doos,
Cry East and West, to the wandering poor,
Whoever thou art whose need Is great
In the name OF Christ, the Compassionate
And Merciful Ono, for Thee 1 walt"
And the poorest Of all may be those
whose purses are full.
Il NU I8rf.l - -.la