The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-12-24
T is probablei
t h a t human
ears had never


so full OF sweet me lOCy ana SO 1relSht-
ed with possible good as that sung by
the angels on the first Christmas Eve.
Who can sing sweeter than angels?
And what sentiment surpasses that of
GLORY to God" and Peace on Earth?"
If mortals could perfectly weave these
sentiments into character, each life
would be a psalm Of sweetcr music
than that sung by these angels. This
indeed is the meaning of the song,
and of the remarkable child. and of
Christmas. Where. also. on our green
I earth, is there spot more worthy to
be the birthplace of such babe than
Bethlehem in Judea? This quiet vii
lage hangs upon the crescent hillside
like a birds nest among leaves, and
the circling hills form natural era
die, sheltered from the winds, and TO-
cusing the suns December rays. On
almost any winter night you can stand
upon their oriental housetops and see
the moonlight flooding this cradle val
ley with its silvery halo, and watch
the shepherds now, as Of old, tending
their focks Of sheep and goats, and,
SO real is the scene, that you can al
most hear again the angel song, and
fancy that hope is dawning anew on q
weary world as the morning dawn
rises over the Moab uplands eastward.
The setting of these sacred hills is not
unworthy of the jewel it bore.
Now, for eighteen centuries, once a
year, at least, men have turned their
- =
the sun and the manger. and, like the
wise men of the East, have laid their
gifts and homage at the feet of this
new born ba be.
Christmas day is the best of all our
holidays. There is more meaning in it
than in any other we celebrate. It is
cheeriest and has the most reason to be
so. 1t is By emphasis day of the heart
and OF the home. Motherhood and ba be-
hood, and home and hope, are its
touches of nature that make the whole
world kin. What is holier than moth
erhood? It subdues the warning race
OF man into brotherhood by its tender
memories of years long gone and it.
tenderer ministering Of years now pres
tAe anu Will - SHttttA AhoH bcbS-
hood? Artists have painted this
Christ-babe as the perfection OF all
babe loneliness. The ba be of the sistine
Madonna expresses our thought of
what the Ba be Of bethlehem was. and
who does not love babe? With be be
and a mother we have home and child
hood. Nazareth, like Bethlehem. is q
garden among the hills. and here was
/ the home and childhood of Christ
Here yet Mays fountain flows from
the rock and the women wster-car-
riers. erect and in single file. bear the
graceful water jars upon their shout
ders. The stone dwellings and simple
furniture are as of old
Il was in a manager - birth and a
! humble dwelling through childhood
that the divine-hunan babe was intro
duced 10 life that has brosght hops
and cheer TO nultitudes-
Tins Christmas speaks 70 man
through some Of the dearest relation
ships he sustains. and the words il
speaks arc that all men should live for
the glory OF God and FOR peace among
men
Christmas IS well celebrated in song.
after the example o. the first cel.hrz-
ton Music Ii the language Of JOY.
Heart joY speaks IN the soft saurzsur-
ing music OF the soc, when no err is
near; home JOY finds expression II the