Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-12-26

CELESTIAL agitation, ana my only wonder is
that, instead of one star or one meteor
giving signal, all worlds did not make
demonstration. Why not other worlds
take interest in the event when Christ
came from another world and another
world WAS to get the souls that would be
saved by this celestial descent? 1t would
have been stellar disgrace, an astronom-
ical scandal, If, when the Godhead lay
compressed in the form of an infant some
thing from above had not pointed down,
as much as to say: There he isl Look,
all earth and heavenl Look, all time and
all eternityp'
CRUCIFIED sAvIoRs.
You see the birth Mt Bethlehem must
have been more novel and startling to the
heavens than the crucifxion on Calvary.
1t was expected that Christ would be NAL
treated. The world always had maltreat-
ed its good and great friends Joseph
hurled into the pit, Shadrach put into the
fire, Jeremiah lowered into dungeon, Da-
vid bounded from the throne, Elijah COM
PEELED to starve or take his food from the
beak of filthy raven, and Socrates con-
demned to death, so that the Calvarian
massacre was in the same old line of NAL
was the conjunction of divinity and hui
mainly Invisible deity, muscled and
nerved and fleshed in masculine physique
A child and yet God Why, if the me
teor had not pointed down that night
some angel would have rushed down and
pointed with his glittering scepter.
Isaiah and David and Ezekiel, who fore
told the coming, would have descended
from thair tlrDpps and StoO6 on thu ,oof
of the barn or in some way designated the
honored locality. AS the finger OF light
that Dec, 25 pointed to the straw cradle,
now all the fingers of Christ endom this
moment, fingers of childhood and old age
fingers of sermon and song and decoration
and festivity, point to the great straw
cradle. Am not right in saying that the
first of the three chapters of the HOLIDAYS
should be devoted to the llustrious birth
dayf By song and prayer and solemn re-
Election and charities today, and by gifts
and trees that bear fruit in an hour after
they are planted, and family gathering and
hilaritics sounding from cellar to garnet
tomorrow, keep Christmas.
As far as possible gather the children
and the grandchildren, but put no estoppel
on racket, whether of laughter or swift
feet or toys in shape of rail trains or trunl-
pets or infant effigy. Let the old folks for
one day at least say nothing about rheu-
matism or prospect of early demise, or the
degeneraCy modern times, or the poison
in CONNECTION ~ If you cannot stand the
noise, retire ON it for little while into
some other room and stop your ears
Christmas for children without plenty of
noise is no Christmas at ALL
If children and grandchildren cannot
have full swing during the holidays, when
will they have itY 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 re
sounding mirth that you can hear tn
echoes twenty years after they are dead.
By religious celebration today and by do
nestle celebration tomorrow keep Christ
mas
AS for our beloved church, we tomorrow
night mean to set the children of our Sab
bath school wild with delight, and in The
Christian Herald, with which ] am con.
nected, we are celebrating the holidays by
sending out two to four thousand Bibles a
day, and they win continue to go out by
express, by messengers and by mails until
we have distributed ut least l00,O00 copies
Of the good old Book on (which Christmas
is built, and which gives the only healthf,ll
Interpretation of these swift flying years
LESSONS OF AN ANNIVERSARY.
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 blossoms
the year was young, and when it swung
the scythe and cradle through the summer
harvest fields the year WAS strong, but it is
getting out of breath now, and after six
more tbrobs OF the pulse will be dead 4No |
cannot stop this annual deeadence. Set all