The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1892-12-22

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And all their splts are turning.
without the door let sorrow lie,
And II for cold It hap TO die,
Wen bury Z in Christmas pie.
| And eyeFmoro be merry.
-WithsrI' Juvenilia.
There is = good ring in this old song
that iS appropriate to this time. Some
Of the good old customs Of Christmas
times that are past and gone are all too
little known to Us now. The Yule log is
all too little burned now, the old wassail
bowl is not passed round as Of old; the
boAr's head, all bedeeked with bays and
rosemary, would seem barbaric to the
young American Of to-day, all corrupted
a. he or she is by turkey and cranberry
sauce. Even the ivy green is not 90
green ~ 1t once was at Christmas, and
fair maids are not kissed under the mis-.
tletoe, a. they were in merrier days Of
old England. The Waits no longer sing
under our windows and the masQues and
mummers are unknown. In fact, it might
seem that we could say with the charac-
ter in the Hue and Cry after Christ
mas:
"But is old. old, good old Christmas
gomez Nothing but the hair Of his good
old heard, and beard left? Well, l will
have that, seeing cannot have more Of
him."
1t is long time since those lines were
written and from them It would seem
that Father Christmas was outwardly at
least very old and corrospondingly feeble
However, this iS = peculiarly that the
cid gentleman has. There was q time
when he was in even worse straits. This
was more than two centuries ago, when
that august body, the English house Of
parliament, after serious debate and care
ful consideration Of divine writ, Solemnly
abolished Christmas day.
II is now iorty-flve years since Charles
Dickens wrote Prof. FELTON,, one Of his
friends In America, letter from which
the following Il an extract:
Nov, II instantly, on the receipt Of
this you will send = free and independent
down 10 the CuAard wharf at BostOn, you
will find - = q small parcel,
and in that parcel you will fnd Christ
mas CAROL in prose, being q short story
for Christmas by Charles Dickens. Over
which Christmas carol Charles Dickens
Wept and laughed and wept again, and
excited himself in = most extraordinary
manner in the competition, and think
ing whereof he walked about the bleak
streets Of London fifteen and twenty
miles many a night when ell the sober
holkS hsd gone to bed. Its
success iS something prodigious, and by
every post all manner Of strangers write
ell manners Of lettorS to him about their
homes and heAFthS and how this same
carol is read aloud there and kept on q
little shelf by itself Indeed, 1t the
greatest success, aS am told, that this
rufian and rascal has ever achieved"
AZ TO the success Of that story We know
more than Dickens himself could have
dreamed. There 10 no child who has not
seen Marley's ghost. There iS none who
has not Shuddered at the shadow Of an
imaginary Scrooge, nor Il there any one
who does not know thoroughly Tiny
Tins petition God bless us all, every
oneP' There are few among those who
are bow celebrating Christmastide who
did not feel . tightening at the heart
strings at the passage:
God bless us all. everyone" /" said Tiny
Tim, last Of all.
He sat very close To his fathers side,
upon his little stool. Bob held his with |
cred hand in his, a. II he loved the child
and wished to keep him by his side and
dreaded that he might be taken from him.
Spirit" said ScrooEe, with an interest
he had never felt before, tell me II Tiny
Tim will live"
II see . vacant seat, /" replied the ghost,
Gin the poor chimney corner, and =
cTutch without an owner, carefully pre-
served. II these shadows remain unal-
tered by the future, the child will die"
Just bow much sorrow this prophecy
has brought to the lovers Of Tiny Tim,
who accepted It in faith, 1t would be hard
to say. How We have followed ScrooRe
Throughout until he was brought back TO
. human condition again, It il needless
70 tell. The tale never ETOWs old. But
the "ChFiSlmas carol" ID too we'll known
now to discuss. II formed more than