The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-12-26

a son can have the palace lllgnined and
couriers sent with swift dispatch to an
nounce the gladness at the gates and wake up
snempire with cannonade, am notsurpris-
ed that, at the birth Of the son OF God there
was celestial agitation; and my only wonder
is that instead of one star or one meteor
giving signal, all worlds did not make dem
oustratton. Why not other worlds take in
terest in the event, when Christ came from
another world, and another world was to
get the souls that would be saved by this
celestial descentl Il would have been a
stellar disgrace an astronomical scandal,
II, uhen the Godhead lay compressed in the
form Of an infant, something from above
had not pointed down as much as to say;
There be isl Look, ali earth aud heaven!
Look, all time and all eternity
You see, the birth at Bethlehem must
have been more novel and startling to the
heavens than the crucif1xion on Calvary
It was expected that Christ would be NAL
trested. The world always had maltreated
fts good and great friends. Joseph hurled
into the pit, Shadrach put into the
FIRE, Jeremiah lowered into dun
geon, David bounded from the throne,
Elijah compelled to starve or take his food
from the beak of a filthy raven. and Soc.
rates condemned TO death, so that the Cal
varian massacre was in the same old line of
ualtreatment. But the novelty Of all the
ages was the conjunction Of divinity and
humanity. Invisible deity, muscled and
nsrved and fleshed in masculine physique.
A child and yet q God. Why, if the meteor
had not pointed down that night. some
angel would have rushed down and pointed
with his glittering scepter. Isaiah and David
and Ezekiel, who foretold the coming,
would have descended from their thrones
and stood on the roof of the barn or In some
way designated the honored locality. AS the
finger of light that Dec. IS pointed to the
wry - Cradla M al tha Annara IF ~hr 90
dom this moment, fingers of childhood and
old age, fingers of sermon and song
and decoration and festivity point
20 the great straw cradle. Am
] not right In saying that the first of the
three chapters of the holidays should be
devoted TO the illustrious birthday By
song and prayer and solemn reflection and
charities to-day. and by gifts and trees that
bear fruit in an hour after they are planted.
and family gathering and hilerites sound-
SDg from cellar TO garrett tomorrow, keep
Christmas. As far as possible, gather the
children and the grandchildren, but put no
sstoppel on racket, whether of laughter or
swift feet or toys in shape of rail-trains or
frumpets or infant efigy. Let the old folks
for one day at least say nothing about rheu-
natism, or prospect of early demise, OF the
degeneracy of modern times, or the poison
An confectionery. II you cannot stand the
noise, retire from 1t for little while into
some other room and stop your ears. Christ
mas for children without plenty Of noise is
no Christmas at all. If children and grand
children cannot have full sway during the
holidays, when will they have it, They will
be still soon enough, and their feet will
elsckep their pace, and the burdens of life
will bear them down. Houses get
ewfully still when the children are
gone. While they stay, let them
Ill the room with such resopnding mirth
shat you can hear the echoes twenty years
after they are dead. By religious cele-
bration to-day, and by domestic celebra-
ton tomorrow, keep Christmas. AS for
our beloved church we tomorrow night
mean 60 set the children of our Sabbath
school wild with delight, and in The Chris
tan Herald with which am connected,
we are celebrating the holidays by sending
out from two to four thousand Bibles
a day, and they will continue to go out by
express, by messengers and by mail until
we have distributed at least one hundred
thousand copies of the good old book on
which Christmas Is built. and which gives
the only healthful Interpretation of these
swift flying years.
The second chapter Of the holidays must
speakiof annual dscadence. This is the last
sabbath of the year. The steps of the year
are getting short, for 1t Is old now. When
IL waved the springtime blossoms, the year
was young, and when it swung the
bCtAuS duQ tuIOuRQ tue SUM-
mer harvest fields, the year was
strong; but it is getting out Of breath
now, and after six more throbs of the pulse
viii be dead. We cannot stop this annual
decadence. Set all the clocks back, set all
the watches back, set all the chronometers
back, but you cannot set Tins back For
the old family clock you might suppose
that Time would have especial respect and
that II you took hold of those old hands on
the face Of that centenarian of timepisce,
and pushed them back, you might expect
that Time would stop or retreat for az least
few minutes. "Nol nor says the old
family clock. II must go on. saw your
father and mother on their wedding day.
struck the hour Of your nativity. l counted
the festal hours of the day In which you
brought home bride. sounded the knell
at your fathers death. l tolled at your
mothers departure. Yea, | must sound
your own going out of life. 1 must 60 on.
must 60 on. Tick>tocki Tick-tockln
But there is great city clock, high up in
the tower. There are 80 many wrongs in
all our cities to be righted, so many evils TO
be extirpated, so many prisons to be sani-
ssried; stop the city clock until all these
things are done. Let common council and
All the people of the great town decree that
che city hall clock shall stop. We do not
want the sins Of 1892 TO be handed over to
1888. We do not want the young year to
eHHctAs VIC AAAnhoA buuCb VI bHc OlQ year. DIV
ladders lifted 20 the tower and by strong
hands, take bold and halt the city clock.
No, no." says the city clock. II cannot
walt until you correct all evils or soothe oil
sorrow or drive out all sin have been
counting the steps of your progress as a
city. ! have seen your opportunities. /
have deplored your neglscts; but time
wasted is gone forever. I must go on. /
must go on. Textbook Tick-tock!n But
IN the tower OF the cepitols at Washington
and London and Berlin and Vienna
and all the great national capitals.
there are clocks. Suppose that by presiden-
tial proclamation and resolution OF Senate
and House OF Representatives our national
clock In the capitol turret be ordered to
stop. stop, oh, clockl until sectional an
imosities are cooled off. until our Sabbaths
are better kept and drunkenness turns to
sobriety, and bribery, fraud and dissipation
quit the land: Stop, oh, clock in the tower
OF tho great United States capitol" mo,
no, says the clock. al have been going on
so long can not afford 20 stop. / sounded
the birthday Of American Independence. /
rang out the return of peace in 1865. /
have seen many Presidents inaugurated. /
struck the hour of Lincoln's assassination.
have beat time for emancipation procla-
NATION and Chicago FIRE and Charleston
earthquake and epidemics of fever and
cholera. Nations never ston They
march on toward salvation or demo
ution. And whY should / stoDa