The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1892-12-27

treated. The world always naO maltrtate0
its good and great friends. Joseph hurled
Jeremiah lowered into dungeon, David
bounded from the throne, Elijah compelled
to starve OF take his food from the beak
of a filthy raven, and Socrates condemned
was in the same old line of maltreatment.
But the novelty of all the ages was the
conjunction of divinity and humanity. In
visible deity, muscled and nerved and
feshed in masculine physique. "A child
and yet God. Why, if the meteor had
would have rushed down and pointed with
his glittering sceptre. 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 December 10Th
pointed to the straw cradle, now all the
fingers of Christendom this moment, fingers
of childhood and old age, fingers OF sermon
and song and decoration and festlvIty point
to the great straw cradle. Am L 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 today,
and by gifts and trees that bear fruit in
an hour after they are planted. and family
gathering and hilaritles sounding from
cellar to garnet tomorrow, keep Christmas.
AS far as possible, gather the children and
the grandchildren, but put no esroppel on
racket, whether of laughter or swift ret
or toys in shape of railtrains or trumpets OF
infant etfigy. Let the old folks for one day
at least say nothing about rheumatism,
or prospect of early demise, or the degen-
eracy of modern times. or the poison iii
confectionery. If you cannot stand the
noise, retire from it for little while into
some other room and stop your ears.
Christmas for children without plenty of
-
and grandchildren cannot have full swing
during the holidays, when will they have
it? They will be still soon enough, and
their feet will slacken their pace, and the
burdens of life will bear them down.
Houses get awfully still when the children
are gone. While they stay, let them fill
the room with such resembling mirth that
you can hear the echoes twenty years after
they are dead. By religious celebration to-
day, and by domestic celebration tomorrow,
keep Christmas. AS for our beloved church
we tomorrow night mean to set the children
of our Sabbath school wild with delight, and
in The Christian Herald, with which l
am connected, we are celebrating the holi-
days by sending out from two to four thou
sand Bibles a day, and they will continue
to go out by express, by messengers and by
mails until we have distributed at least
100000 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
speak of annual decadence. This is the last
Sabbath of the year. The steps of the
year are getting short. for it is old now.
When it waved the springtime bios
SONS, the year was young, and when it
summer harvest fields, the year WAS
strong; but it is getting out OF breath
now, and after six more throbs of the pulse
will be dead. We cannot stop this annual
decadence. Set all the clocks back, set all the
watches back, set all the chronometers
b back DF er y the c Snpn0' family iy' cnc 1s
you might suppose that time would
have especial respect and that if you took
hold of those old hands on the face of that
centenarian of timepece, and pushed them
back, you might expect that time would stop
or retreat for at least few minutes. NO!
no!' says the old family clock. Il must go
on. l saw your father and mother on their
wedding day. | struck the hour of your ma
tivity. I counted the festal hours of the
day in which you brought home bride. I
sounded the knell at your fathers death. |
tolled at your mothers departure. Yea, |
must sound your own going out of life. l
must go on. l must go on. Textbook. Tick
tock,''
But there is great city clock, high up iii
the tower. There are 50 many wrongs Ill
al our cities TO be righted, SO many evils to
taried; stop the city clock Until all these
things are done. Let common council ami
ali Lie people OF the great town decree that
the city hail clock shall stop. We do not
want the sins of 1892 to be handed over to
1915. We 10 Lot want the young year to
inherit the msfortunes of the old year. BY
ladders lifted to the tower and by stron5
hands, take hold and halt the city clock.
NO, no." says the city clock. 81 cannot
wait until you correct all evils or soothe all
sorrow or drive out all sin. ! have beeh
counting the steps of your progress as city.
l have seen your opportunities. | have d.
plc1ed your neglects; but time wasted IS
wasted forever. | must 90 on. | must go
on. Textbook! Tick-tock!" But in the
tower of the capitols at Washington ana
London and Berlin and Vienna and all The
great national capitols, there are clocks
Suppose that by presidential proclamation
and I, solution of se1ate and house of .epra
sentatives our national clock in the capitol
turret be ordered to stop. Stop. oh, clock
until sectional anmosities are cooled OF,
until cur Sabbaths are better kept ana
drunkenness turns 10 sobrietv ana bribery,
fraud and dissipation quit the land. Stop
Oh clock IN + g tower Of the great United
States capitol" 'No, no. says the clock
81 have been going on so long cannot afford
to stop. l sounded the birthday Of American
Independence. / rang out the return OF
peace in 1865. have seen many presidents
inaugurated. I struck the hour of Lincoln's
assassination. I have beat time for eman-
cipation proclamation and Chicago fire and
Charleston earthquake and epidemics of
fever and cholera. Nations never stop.
They march on towrda salvation or demo-
lition And why should / stop? / chime
for the national holidays. ] toll for the
mighty dead. l must 90 on. | must go on.
Tick tock Ticl-tock!" There may be q
difference of few seconds or a few min
utes in the timepieces but it will be a seri-
Gus occasion when next Saturday night
about the same hour the family clocks and
the city clocks and the national clocks strike
One! Two! Three. -Four! Five! Six! Seven!
Eight! Nine! Ten! Eleven! Twelve.
Sorry am | to have 1892 depart this life.
1t has been a good year. What bright days!
What starry nights. What harvests! What
religious convocations! What triumphs
of art and science and invention and en-
terprise and religion! But, alas, how sa-
cred it has been with sorrows. What pill
lows hot with fever that could not be cool
ed! What graves opening wide enough to
take down beauty and strength and useful
ness! What OctOgenarians putting down
the staff of earthly pilgrimage and taking
the crown of heavenly reward. What
children, as in Bible time, crying, My
head, my head! And they carried him to
his mother and he sat on her knees until
noon, and then died" This year went the
chief poet of England and the chief poet
of America. Our John G. Whittier
IN, n+,1ro nd 10