The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1892-12-22
= MI

improvisation for absence from home
an this brightest and best of anniversa-
rs in finding oneself in the streets Of
..ondon on the eve of Christmas, a spec
tor and part of the great Christmas
de of expectant, happy, smiling ha-
nanity flowing in counter currents
trough Bond street, Holborn, the
itrand, and eddying and whirling
round Charing Cross; and when, with
cart warmed with the glow reflected
rom thousands of sparkling faces, to
re this city of a million homes and
lousand churches blaze forth with
Nhristmas lights from basement to roof,
rom chancel to belfry, the mystic spell
e the anniversary becomes wondrous,
Overwhelming, complete.
But when Christmas dawns, one
IOuld leave the bewildering maze Of
is vast city for some old English vii
ge where the beauty and traditions OF
re day possess Z cameo-like unity and
'-alief; and the farther this shrine is re-
, loved from the rush and roar of the
nineteenth century the sweeter will be
ne favor of the anniversary and the
more redolent of it's old-time incense.
:, he village green, buttressed by the
lied church and manse at one end, and
the old hostelry and smithy forge at
the other, the noble hall half visible in
IT'S park, and ancient farmhouses
neighboring near, make up a mis- en-
scene for a charming Christmas that
cannot be surpassed. Watching the as
sembling worshipers Aecking park and
green, you follow on, pause In Gods
Acre for look at the old yew trees
and the billowy sod where the rude
forefathers of the hamlet sleep, and
plain interior tender and sympathetic
hands have lent grace and freshness
With clusters and festoons of holly and
mistletoe, and where Christmas has
been sacredly celebrated for centuries
save when Cromwell's soldiers put
down the ''papistical'' worship or dur
ing the pitiable War of the Roses. Your
mind dwells mainly in the misty past
during the service, for Celts, Britons,
Saxons, Danes and Normans have knelt
before you on this spot, many Of them
under this same roof, and do not the
symbols gathered from the remnants Of
old Druidical groves blend the credo OF
the Christian with the worship of Bell?
AS the day declines and you have
your choice between the hospitality Of
Norman hall and the festivities at some
old farmhouse where, the Saxon dwells,
HE then to the latter, for Christmas is
but play under the patronizing smiles
Of rank and fashion, while in the soil
Embedded home Of the descendant OF
Celt or Saxon you shall see the greatest
If Christian anniversaries celebrating
1T the same hearth with the first of
Tagan festivals las you saw them COM
nemorated at the same morning altar
ind each claiming the day in honor of
j IS nativity. In the midst Of the fete
where hospitality reigns with gladness
the carols are heard without and the
{ DOR swings wide open for the singers.
IN they troop, and as they chant Of a
Saviour born this day in the cave OF
ethlehem, and OF peace on earth, good
VIII to man, the blazing yule log of
tie sun worshipers illumines the room
With tidings of scarce less import, tell
i,,S nat on this day the source of all
! ght and life has emerged from the
grave of the winter solstice to break
the icy bands of death and restore to
Einn the fructifying spring, the ripen-
ing summer and golden autumn.
! have chos England for the loci Of my
Christmas scenes, for there one is
brought into closer sympathy with the
Spirit and traditions of this great dual
a anniversary than in our modern
America.
Centuries before the shepherds
watched their focks on the Syrian hills
f. the dawn of the Christian era the
f ;yptian priests had traced the zodiac
IL the heavens and blazoned the 2sth
o December as the day of the deliver
ace of the sun from the darkness and
binds of the winter solstice, and for
centuries before the light Of Christianity
burst forth from the grotto of Bethle-
hem the fire affairs of the Orient. the
SIN wheels Of Germany and the yule
logs of Britain celebrated this day as
tie resurrection of nature from death
unto life. Does it detract from the
beauty and splendor of the Christian
holiday that all nature joins in its
hcsannahs to that infinite and benign
Providence which heedeth the spar
rows fall and the sun in it's course
with the same care and solicitude that
proclaimed from the angelic skies of
Bethlehem: Peace on earth, good will
to man?' GEO. w. VAN HORNE.