Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1893-01-06

the Godhead lay compressed 10 the form or
an infant, something from above had not
| pointed down. IS much as TO say: Inere
He is! Look, all earth and heaven!
Look, all time AMI all eternity!
You see, the birth at Bethlehem must have
| been more novel and startling to the heavens
than the crucifxion on Calvary. 1t was ex-
! vected that Christ would be maitreated.
| The world always hal ma treated It's good
and great friends. Joseph hurried into the
| pit, Shadrach put into the fire. Jeremiah
| lowered into a dungeon, DAVID hounded
| from the throne, Elijah compelled to srarve
or take his food from the beak Of filthy
raven. and Socrates condemned to death. so
that the Calvarian massacre was in the same
| old line of nlaltrea tment. But the novelty
| of all the ages was the con junction Of divn-
ity and humanity. Invisible deity. muscle1
| and nerved and deshed in masculine phys.
, idue. A child and yet a God
/ Why, il the meteor bad not pointed down
| that night, some angel would have rushed
down and pointed with his glittering scepter.
! 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 toe honored
| locality. As the finger of light that De"em.
| Der % pointed to the straw cradle, now all
| the fingers of Chrstendcm this moment,
| fingers of childhood and old age, fingers of
| sermon and song and decoration and fes
| tlVlty, point to the straw cradle. Am l not
right IN saying that thu first OF the three
CHAPTERS OF the holidays should be devoted
| to the illustrious birth lays By song and
| prayer and solemn reflection and charities
to-1av, and by gifts and trees that bear fruit
In an hour after they are planted and family
gathering and hilarities sounding from cellar
to garrett 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 ia shape OF raj. CrdIns .rumpets or
infant eftigy. Let the old folks for one day
at least say nothing about rheumatism or
prospect of early demise. or the degeneracv
of modern times, or the poison in confec-
tionery. 1t you cannot stand the noise, re
tire from it for little while into some other
room and stop your ears. Christmas for
children without plenty OF noise is no Christ
mas at all. If children 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 tthe 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 resounding mirth that you can hear
the echoes twenty years after they are dead.
BIZ religious celebration today AMI by do
meStic celebration tomorrow keep Christ
mas AS for oc, beloved church, we to-
morrow 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 holidays
by sending out from two to fOu" thousand
Bibles day and they will continue to go
cut by express, by messengers and by mails
until we have distributed at least one hun
dred thousand 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 last
year are getting short, for it is old now.
When it waved the spring time blossoms the
year was young, and when it swung the
Scythe and cradle through the summer har
vest fields toe year was strong, but 1T is get
ting 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 back, but you cannot
set time back. For the old family
clock you might suppose that time would
have especial respect, and that if
you took hold of those old hands on the face
Of that cent9narlan Of a timepiece and
pushed them back you might expect that
time would stop or retreat for at least few
minutes. "NO, no" says thu old family
clock. II must go on. l saw YOUR father
and mother on their wedding day. I struck
the hour of your nativity. counted the
festal hours of the day in which you brought
home bride. sounded the kneii at your
fathers death. l tolle1 at your mothers
departure. Yea, [ must sound your own
going out of life. I must go on. T must go
on. Tick, took! Tick, took"
But there is great city clock high up in
the tower. There are SO many wrongs in
all our cities to be righted, so many evils to
be extirpatsd, so many prise rs to be
sanitaried-stop the city CLOCK I'm til all thess
things are done. Let common council aud
the people IF the great town decree that the
city hall clock shall stop. We do not want
the sins Of 1892 to bs handed over to 1898.
We do no. want the young year to inherit
the misfortunes OF the old year. By ladders
lifted to the tower ana by strong hands
take hold and halt the city clock. mo! now
you correct all evils or soothe all sorrow or
drive out all sin. have been counting the
ston Of your progress as city. [ have
Ii your opportunities. l have deplored
you neglects, but time wasted is wasted
forever. I must go on. [ must 60 on.
Tick, tockl Tick, tockw But in the tower
of the capitols at Washington and London
and Berlin and Vienna and all the great
national capitals there are clocks.
Suppose that by presidential proclaua-
ton and resolution Of the senate and house
of representatives. our national clock in the
Capitol turret be ordered to stop. stop
o CLOCK, until sectional animosities are
cooled off, until our Sabbatns are better
kept, and drunkenness turns to sobrietF,
and bribery, fraud and dissipation quit the
landI Stop, 0 CLOCK, in the tower Of the
United States Capitol" 'No, no:' says the
clock. Il have been going on so long [ can
not afford to stop. [ sounded the birthday
of American Independence. | rang out the
presidents inaugurated. [ struck ths
hour Of Lincoin's assassination. [ have
beat time for emancipation proc
lamation. and Chicago fire, and Charleston
earthquake. and epidemcs of fever ana
cholera. Nations never stop. They march