Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1897-12-23


To guests who never famine feel,
on, spare one morsel from your meal,
10 Iced the poor ut Christmas.
When Een'rons wine your care controls,
And gives new joy TO happiest souls,
Oh, snare one goblet from your bowls,
To cheer the poor III Christmas.
The author OF Round About Our Sea.
Coal Fire says in his day the English
Squire of Christmas morn had all his
cnants and neighhors enter his hall by
daybreak. The strong beer was hroached,
and the hlackjacks went plsntifully
about with the toast, sugar, nutmeg,
and good Cheshire cheese. The great
Christmas sausage, called tho hackiu,
must be bolted 10y taybreali. or else
the young fellows would sei2e thu COOK
by the arms and run her about The
market place until she was ashamed OF
her lazinsss. In fact, ihree csnturiss
ago Christmas Day was simDly a son.
tinuoua feast. Everything centred in
the ideR Of open handed hospitality.
At Christmas be merry and thankful with
all,
And ieas thy poor neishbors, the great and
the small.
The Puritan rule of Oliver Cromwell
completely suppressed Old Christmas,
With all its fun and iollity. The, Long
Parliament proclaimed n fast on Christ
mas Day, and so it continued untilthe
death of the Protector and thu restora
tion of Charles.
The high-Shne lords of CrDmwels making
We're not for Misunderstanding baking;
The chOfCst food they found most good in
Was rusty bacon and bag pudding.
Plum broth DDniSh and nliuEp utp---
q thar was fiat idolutryl
But the suppression Of tho exceed.
ingly coarse and rreyerent observance
of duy most sacred in its institution
had goud elfsrt, This is first seen in
the elevation Of tone in the Christmas
carol. Before the Puritan period Christ
mas carol was so sensunus in its char
aGter that it was scarcely regarded az
hymn Of praise, and even after the
Restoration it does not appear that
carols were sung in churches, There
were anthems, hut no Garcia. An ex.
ception, however, ia found in an
ancient carui, which nppoars in the
Harloisn Mss, Outing sumowhere about
1850 A. d. is words have become the
foundation OF many good modern
carol. 1t runs thus:
v,
In Bethlehem. that fayre ciiee. %, ...
Angels sang with mirth and gee.
In eSceisis gloria
llcrdsmen behed these angels bright,
10 them appearing with great light.
And sayd God SON is born this night,
In ex1elss gloria
This King is coming to save mankind,
Declared in Scripture as we fvnde.
Therefore this song have we in mind,
In eScelsls gloria
But even up 10 the time of Tate and
Brady, who may DO considered the
compilers Of the first church hymnal,
the ordinary carol was nut very poor
poetry. the following verso will indi.
cate their somewhat quaint and simple
character:
But when to Bethlehem they came,
Where as tins Infant lay.
They found Him in manger,
Where oxen feed on hay,
His Mother Mary lineeling
With the Lord did pray.
The popular Christmas hymn, "While
shepherds watched their fiocks hy
night" was composed by Nahum Tate,
when he was Poet Laureate. somew here
about the year 1903 Another great
favorite, lIark, tho Herald Angels
Sing" was written by Charles Wesley.
But one of our best modern carols,
which has found place in the new
edition OF the hymnal, and which
begins 20, little town of Bethlehem, "
is from the pen of the late Phillips
Brooks Of Bnstou.
On the whole, we have nothing to
regret in the departure OF that Christ
mas which characterized the rude and
rough days Of Old England. To quot.
the words OF Washington Irving, it
fiourished in times of spirit and
lustihood, when men enjoyed lie
roughly, but heartily and vigorously. Z"
But we can scarcely agree with the
eminent writer when hs says that in
the modern Christmas there ia more
of dissipation and less OF enjoyment. "
For Christmas ia still time Of de-
lightful excitement, and it is crafty
ing 10 see how completely the home
feeling is aroused and how widespread
is the desire to spread peace and good
will around us as ws wish each other
IN Merry Cbristmas. -