The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-12-01
CHRISTMAS.
The Gaycst Festical of the Year Is Near at
Hand,

manu.
Lady Cook of Doughty House, Richmond,
Surrey, England. has contributed the follow
ing for publication in THE REPUBLICAN. Her
writings, many of which we have published
from time to time, are always enjoyed by
our readers.-Ed Republican.
The happy season Of Christmas is ONCE
more upon US, destined to bring JoyfulnessI
and mirth to millions of hearts, but bitter
sadness ana q sense Of utter loneliness to the
forIorn. Heaven pity those who ct this fes-.
tive period have no smiling faces OF dear
ones at their board, or, worse STILL possess
neither home nor means nor friends, When
most families are annually gathered togeth-
er in loving communion, it is meet that the
common sympathies Of humanity should be.
the most strongly stirred on behalf Of the|
wretched and the oGtcast.
1t is unquestionable that our Christmas
festival is OF Pagan origin; that it is the stsf@
vival Of sum worship-oDe form of that great
and universal phallic creed which woul1
seem to bs as Old Q,.as ubiquitous as nlankilld.
Ni1o cal s2fop 10 sESssaf taszess X <ssyf
scores Of thousands Of years the souls oflnen
were moved to hope and Joy by the return Of
the sun to vivify and bless the earth? The
end Of the winter solstice was a period OF ex-
pectancy and promise, celcbrat ted by joyous
feGstiEgs, curious customs, and appropriate
worship, and the Grst day OF every week was
dedicated by the Anglo-Saxon ancestors to
the solar diety. Christianity appropriated
the Pagan festivals to It's own cult with as
few Innovations as possible, 50 as not to
shock too Iudely the conservative suscepti-
bilities Of its converts AND thus the time Of
year CT the universal Saturnalia was nxed
upon Is the precise period OF the birth OF
Christ, The spiritual Sun, "the sun OF right
e9usness,'' who was to bring gladness and
healing beneath His wings. The Scriptural
phase is plain aIlusion to the solar-serpent
worship which prevailed in Syria, as in this
country and throughout The world. An an
cient hieTO"ram OF It's divinity YVES O circle,
egg, or sun, with towering wings.
The Yule-lCS was ernblematic CT the same
sacred fire. The suns name in Wclch was
Ham; in Breton, Heol. The Anglo-Saxon
name for Christmas was geol or iule; Danish
and Swedish jul; ard English. Yule Thus
IUle plainly meant the festival OF 5he sun.
A year was often called q SUN by the ancients,
ana Yule was the time when the OLD sun died
ana 5he new one was born. Thus the birth
Of Christ comedies Wit. the birth Of the sun.
Warmestry, in his ''Vindicaticn OF the So
lemnity Of the Nativity of Christ - 1913 Says
"If it dojh appear tBat the time Of this Festi-
val doth comply with the time Of the Heath
ems SatuTnalia, this leaves no charge Of i'm
Fiety upon it; fer. since things ere best cured
by their contarias, it was both wisdom and
piety iu the ancient christians whose work
it was to convert the HeatEens from such, as
Wen as other supersGHons and Iuiscarriages)
to vindicate such times from The service OF
the degil, by appointing them to the more
solemus ana especial service Of God The
Blaze5 are foolish and vaiue, ana not count
enapced by the Church.
"ChristnGssc kariies, II they be SUCH as are
15 for the time, and OF holy and sober com
P0sure, ana used with Christian sobriety ana
pietythey aren unlawful, and may be prof
table, il tAey be suuE with grace Ia the
heart"
All very sensible, but ut the same time a
clever example Of special pleading not known
in our time, in which Heather priority is ig-
nOred. The 'Blazes,' or Tule- logs. however.
were diHcult for Warn,estry to account for
or to claim as Christian enlbIcns. We can
scarcely suppose him ignorant Of theirmean-
ing or of that Of others. but he d0abtIessly
thought il would not be wise to enligIted
the vulgar. HeI1ick tells US that the YuIe-log
OF the new Christmas used to be lit ''With last
years brand" IN some places this was kept
under the bed during the interval as a pre-
ventative against thunder and fire. 1t was
said to cure cattle diseases, and its ashes
freed the corn from blight
The Christmas candles used to be Of enor-
nous size, and made to illuminate the whole
house. They were always lit on Christmas
eve, ana thus Christmas, says Blount, was
called THE Feast OF Lights" in the Latin
church.
Christmas is the season of carols. Duran
dus derives this word from cantare, to sing,
and roia, a joyful interiection. Talbot, how
ever, derives it from the Breton, corou, to
dance; and Richardson from the French Ca
role, particular kind of dance. From its
similarity OF structure and meaning in many
tongues, we may be sure that it meant dane
ing accompanied with music and song, like
that around the affairs of the Sun God. Bel.
or that practiced by the Bacchantes of the
Sun God, Bacchus, or by the Corybantes, the
Cali of Cybele or Bella, the Lunar diety and
consoIt OF the Solar.
Warton says of the Christmas Carols,
printed in 1898, by Wynkyn de Worde, that
these were festal chansons for enlivening
1llS lhSiIllueuO VI blle tHrlSIIildS celeDi1Uy."
Indeed there is scarcely a custom of any i'm
portance relating to Christmas which was
not an ancient one when Christ was born.
The evergreens, mistletoe, illumininations,
cakes, carols, feasting, dancing, and diver
sion of various sorts, point to the same
Pagan sources, as do SO many other of our
social and religious customs. Even the
Bishops Crosier is the old Litnus or chief
ensign of the Roman Augurs. Mosheim in
forms us that Gregory Thaumatugus sal
lowed the Christians to dance, sport, and
feast, at the tombs Of the martyrs upon their
respective festivals, and to do everything
that the Pagans were accustomed to do in
their temples during the feasts."
1t was not until the fourth century that
Christ's Mass was instituted, and the East
ern Christians celebrated it, then as now, on
the sixth of January, and called it the Epi-
phany, while the Westerns pitched on the
25th of December.
We hope some day to give an account of
the carols, for these form interesting pict-
ures of the habits and thoughts Of our ances-
tors. There was that strange one sung by
the sewer while bearing the boar's head, as
he was followed by the stately procession of
nobles knights and ladies, into the ban
| quoting han in the good old days when open
hOusp was kont for a pOD1prc hv tho rraat T.