The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-12-20
SANTA CLAUS IS REAL.
Though Many People Speak of
Him as a Myth.
In England ST. Nicholas Was Recognized
AS the Guardian of Youth.

In spite OF the fact that Dec. @ was
st. Nicholas day thousands Of people
talk Of Santa Claus as myth. ST. Nicho-
Las was very real parsonage He was
archbishop of Myra in 342. and the
name under which he enjoys IA annual
popularity in this country is the Ger
man form that came with the German
custom Of the Christmas tree and all
the rest of il.
St. Nicholas is a great saint with all
the Teutonic and Scandinavian peoples.
1t was his prerogative, says tho New
York Recorder, TO manifest his piety
when at his mothers breast, for even
then he is said to have tasted Wednes-
days and Fridays. AS a matter of course
he soon became famous in working mir
acles, and here again he appeared to seek
favor with the young people
An innkeeper having killed two young
gentlemen and put them in the pickle
tub. intending to sell them as picked
pork, the saint, who. in a vision. had
seen the deed done, declared he would
put stop to the business, and there
upon he transformed himself from Lycia
to Athens and stood before the astonish-
cd innkeeper and said, What hast thou
donei'
The man trembled, confessed and i'm
plored forgiveness. Having patted the
man on the back and said, Don't do it
any more" the holy man turned to the
pickle tub, when the imitation sides,
legs and hands Of pork began to stir,
and in quick sticks there came forth not
two boys merely, but three, as may be
proved by reference to the Salisbury
missal Of 1884, wherein there is pic
ture of the event, and one of its pecul-
iarities is that, as the three boys rise
complete out of the pickle, the barbar-
Gus hatcher is still busy in cutting one
of them up.
ST. Nicholas established yet another
claim to be regarded as the friend Of
youth, for he was partial to boxing and
employed his skill in the manly art"
upon the heads Of bishops.
The guardianship Of the young by
Santa Claus was of old recognized in
England by the custom of choir boys in
cathedrals choosing boy bishop on the
day Of ST. Nicholas, Dec. 6. This was
a very important event, as may be seen
by Homes Every Day Book, Il, 1869,
where there is an efiigy of boy bishop
from Salisbury cathedral The custom
was in full observance from early times
until 1542, when it was abolished by
proclamation of Henry VIII
According TO the old north German
custom, the happy time for the children
is the vigil of ST. Nicholas, the night Of
Dec. 8. Then il is that he glides about,
putting good things into lucky bags and
spying out the merits and demerits Of
boys and girls and sometimes unspar-
ingly praising or rebuking them.
The north German fashion requires
the saint to pay a visit TO the house
whore the young are assembled in fes-
tivity on the night Of his vigil He
speaks in kindly words to the juvenile
throng, reproving some, encouraging
others. On retiring TO rest, each member
of the party places an empty shoe on the
table, and tho door Of the room is at
once locked, and behold when morning
dawns and the doors are opened in the
presence of all, the shoes are found to
be filled with gifts for their owners and
the table is covered with trinkets and
sweetmeats.
We have simply Incorporated st.
Nicholas day with Christmas day and
made the night of Dec. "a the time Of
the saints visitation. But he is not
myth now any more than he ever was.
He is very real as well as a very good
saint indeed, and for the children sake,
may his shadow never grow less