New-York tribune., 1892-12-04
A PRELIMINARY CHI RISTMAS.
TIE DAY OF TIE ClIILDREN'S SAINl'
WHY AND HOW ST. NICHOLAS is HoNoRED-ThE
BOY BISHOP.

have been brought hither By the Dutch. ana nave
survived with not quite all the vitality that coud oe
wished, perhaps. down 10 the present day ana soma
where In The process they have dsengaged them
selves from ST. Nlcholas's Day and have a'thcheo
themselves to Christmas three weeks later. 1t should De
subject for thankfncss perhaps. that any such pret
Is old custom that OF the hanging OF stockings anu
the visit, Of st. Nicholas should be kept up az ALL anu
TO critics should carp at little change OF one par
ticular day for another. Yet st. Nicholas has aay
o, his own. and II 1t still hOnored here u wouu
be honored Tuesday Of this week.
A most cheerful, worthy loving and lovable saint
was Nicholas. Even when he a baby. before he
could speak or know what spoken TO hinl' ne
always tasted OF his accord on Wednesdays and
Fridays. 4 man who started In this way cond
scarcely fail to become bishop. and Nicho"s became
Archbishop OF Mym. In Asia Minor. lie died IN 'he
year 3i3. and his bones remained at Myra I'LL lo7''
when they were removed to Bari In Italy, whore they
still remain. on the very day when they were brought
thithcr and deposited In the Church OF 81 stephen'
thirty persons were cured Of various diseases by
PRAYERS 10 81. Nicholas. There Is a Church OF It.
Nicholas at Bari now, besides the cathedral More VIII
be said about the town and the church by and by.
Whenever St. NlcaolaS Is talked Of or written OF
this story I, told man living In ASIA WHO WIS
sending his two sons 10 Athens TO be cducat"d babe
them call on tho good archbishop aS they passed
through Myra, and ask his blessing. They r'ach'd
the town ~ nj ;htial and decided 10 walt till morning
before making their visit. SO they went to an Inn
for the night and the wicked landlord look'i co'ct
ou,ly on their luggage. much did he long to keep
it that he murdered the boys and anxious WAS he
to hide his crime that he cut up their bodies ana
uacked them in plckllng tub with some pork NEAL
ing 10 gln yet more By selling the whole contents ot
the tub for pork. But Archbishop Nicholas SAW the
whole ncndl,h decd In vision and he went straight
to the lnnkccpcr and told him that h" knew all about
it, Being thu, caught the man was ovcrcom" with
rcnor,e as many are and begged the saint to n"rccdc
for his pardon The archbishop did this. and also
went to the pork tub and prayed till the fragments OF
the boys Ioncd hcmscvc, together and the boys them
selves stood up I'm the tub alive and well. Thcfo
are some interesting pictures Of this miracle In Oh
books and they represent thr"" boys standing III 'h'
tub though only two mentioned in the story bnt
the artists Of that day had taste of their own ana
logic Of their to bear It out, and a l"nG as 'he
tub was big enough for three hoy', why not put three
In II, one of the pictures shows the innkccpcr Just
finishing hi, .hopping and II. Nicholas raising the
three boys iro.n The tub At the sam" time OF course
nobody suppo,,s that It happened exactly that way
but when there was chance to represent the whole
story In n small space Why mott II IS thought to be
Lcca,c of his incident that Nichola, Is counted the
patron saint of children.
lie is the patron u virgins too, and another
.,o,, account, for this, \ certain man had tlrc"
r..
,oud give Them no marriage portion, aud scarcely the
noc,,sItc. Of lfe When be- was Mt last at the point
Of desperation ~ Nichols heard Of his need, ANA
couln- To the hous. ~ night. threw purse OF gold
In n the window With thi, the father portion"d ms
eldest daughter =. Hichohs th" next night threw
ln , .c-,ud pure the father poiiloned BIS src"id
d,ueutc~ and then watched and discovered the SAINT
. ho WIS about to throw In third purse on the next
night, some sort Of connection la, been traced be
~. col
the pawniroor, sign. bat II /, rather vague AM Is nor
important 10 'lo present d'cu,eon.
once when + NlcAola. was making journey 70
,h. Holy Land "a storm arose and would hav" wrecked
the .hip bu' iog his intorccs.ion and car" mat IL
bo.d not and again when som" sailors Of another
,hip found Themselves IN great peril II occurred 10
,b,u 10 call on - NicIo'a, for holp. II" wa' Sill'
alive ~ tAai time bui he came srifhi TO ih"M ana
saved them. And D" became the patron oi Sailors
as well o., oi children ani virgins,
n. oN.,rvance of -. Nicholn.'s Day which con
r..,. II with iAr Christina, custom u M, time ami
country - TIE ancient ono I filling shoes win niue
ln. which We're supposed 10 have been leN th"r" by
th. .,lni II wa, So the custom In certain convent
nr the hoarier, lclv" ctch SILK stocking at th'
door of the Abh,,- on the Eve Of o' Nicholas ana
r... tn.y wor,d rrd In tho morning filed with sweet
m.., or other rlGrs 20 -how that they were h'l IN
remembrance. Both thr." habit, are supposed to b'
derived from tho tory ~ The three purse, gwen "a
. tlr,c virgins, though the qu stion may b" Suggested
| whether the story was not rather derived nom '"'
| .u.ton.. Children were iolI That It Nicholas threw
. I,r. .nf, for them n nt IN" window ana th' hl""
rolnt +, clear enough that b" is IN" same person "'
| .,,,, claus. who. on Christmas Eve rides al over
every part Of the world where good children hN''
with HI, lcdsr and his rcindecr, and com"' down IN
chimney, TO nll the stockings. hung mp to await nm
witt, all sort Of thing, TO delight childish hearts
.p uairg all tn rs Of the At lis hone, so1""h +
IN. up within the Arctic circle. mailing TOYS nd h"ih
sugar into candy to distribute the next Christmas.
pcrhars the most remarkable Of all celebrations IN
| homo, of ST. Nchola, the old on ot the ID >
! Mshop Tho boy bishop assumed ms once Oh ~
y,cholass Day. Dcccmb q. and Id it Il ! II IL limo
| -ent's Day. December %. The custom originated oi
the Continent Of Europe. and was adopted III h7i"'
whcre n reached what probably it, n'licN d'
yelopmcni. \ boy chosen - represent hlNn"
and was clothed with all the robes and Invested VIII
! al the Insignia pertaining To the station ol"r poN'
rcpr,. cntcd priests, dcacons and other altab" person
! for the bishops train. The boy bishop condu''eh
service I'm the church. and In some eases he and hi
compinons went about from hous" to hou'c ,'hgh.
and collecting money. which they did not ASK "S
| yn but demanded a. Il right. ,,.,.. .
The boy bishop attained his iullhe,S ol oIs,,'N Il
salisbury Cathedral. though he WIS known M owe
Fnr'ani There h. was chosen from among the chol
,%e bIcneit pomp ana most absolute authority, IT.
/, said To have conducted all the services ot t' % i"r
lAE
+, said TO have celebrated the mass iiscli any pre-,
,rd fc1 vacant In his term Of Office he hlrn H. anu
| ne died bcf)r" his term expired he was hh'ir
| with al the hOnurs due to genuine biSl p lh'r'
| record uf a boy bishop nt salisbury Llhh1 N"'"I'
| ur,hnnd by the appointment OF his schoonaSter, an
there Is IN thr cathedral there th" toinb "f one WI
| died while holding his Office on thr Top "i " Il u
| cngy of the child In iull episcopal robes. =.
| such mnsoucrnding plays n. this wr;' ho' me
! deemed offensive drrogatory To- IN" dignity ot li
church. In f,ct much cOiisrg AMI more uhCon'h 'Nh
billions were ffcry permitted some "r'A7lulls eve
10 fine extent nf burlcsucs Of the services o lhr 'hu'
| within ITS own walls. or cour>" the rNH ana ui
| crrdtablr side bound to he seen In nnr ana t'
functions Of the boy bishop were n h't Iorbdu'l D
Henry VIII Thcy were restored however. i"r llin'
| bv Mary. The peculiar custom at Eton known q
the Montcm. /, supposed to have originated IN 'a1
| 4 the hoy bishop. but tn" MOntem i too large sui
| I.ct 10 L" discussed here. ,
! \ writer in ChambcrS's " Book Of DAYS give, u
Interesting account of the celebration of - NichomN
| nav nj Bari, where his bones lie under iIt 'rNP'
| th. church which bears ht name. ON that dny ~
| tnwn f. throngcd with pilgrims from all the couutr
| around When lcy get 10 the church they show ti''
| devotion by walking all around 1T II can be caIie
| wnlMng-on their knees. and some ol tIs'm even
If with their fo'ehcads 10 the foor. each being .mi
L.. cIId -h, i,ada No pllgrim "A