The Washington weekly post., 1900-12-25

designated the nOnOfed LOCALITY. As tue
finger CT light that December 3 pointed
10 the straw cradle, now all the fingers OF
Christendom this moment fingers OF
childhood and old age. fingers OF ser
mon. and song. and decoration, and fes-
tivity. point TO the great straw cradle.
farsI Dary on Chris tma. Day.
cam I not right in saying that the first
Of the three chapters OF the holidays
should be devoted TO the illustrious birth
day? BY song and prayer and solemn re-
Election and charities to-day. and family
gathering and hilarities. sounding from
cellar to garrett keep the holidays. As
far as possible gather the children and
the grandchildren. but pu: no estOppel on
racket. whether of laughter or swift feet
or toys in shape OF rail trains. or trum-
pets, or infant effigy. Let the old folks
Cor one day at least say nothing about
rheumatism. or prospect OF early demise
or the degeneracy OF modern tines, or
the poison In confectionery. II 'ou can
rot stand the noise. retire from II for a
little while into some other room and
stop your ears. Christmas for children
without plenty Of noise is no Christmas al
all. Fathers and mothers, help them now
to get surplus of exuberance that VIII
last them when life has become Sc
rious thing TO them as IL has 10 US. L;
children and grandchildren cannot nave
full swing during the holidays, when Will
they have Il? They will be still soon
enough. and their feet will slacken their
pace, and the 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 re-
sounding mirth that you can hear the
echoes twenty years after they are dead.
BY religious celebration and by domestic
celebration keep Christmas.
1.-The second chapter of the holidays
must speak of annual decadence. The
steps of the year are getting short, for 1t
is old now When II waved the spring
time blossoms, the year was young. and
when Ii swung the scythe and cradle
through the summer harvest fields, the
year was strong: but IL is getting out of
breath now. and after few 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 ehronometers back. but you cannot
set Time back. For the old family clock
you might suppose that Time would have
especial respect. and that II you took hold
of those old hands on the face or that
centenarian of a timepiece, and pushed
would stop or retreat for at least few
minutes. No, no. says the old family
clock 4 must go on. / saw your father
and mother on their wedding day
sounded the knell at your fathers death.
tolled at your mothers departure. Yea,
| must sound your own going out OF life.
I must go on. / must go on. Tick-tock!
Tick-tock.'
To Make Holiday Happiness Perfect.
''But there is in most great towns a
city clock. high up in the tower. There
are so many wrongs in all our cities to be
righted, so many evils to be extirpated,
so many prisons TO be sanitaried; stop the
city clock until all these things are done.
Let all the people OF the great town de-
cree that the city hall clock shall stop.
We do not want the sins of 1900 TO be
handed over 10 1901. We do not want the
young year to inherit the misfortunes OF
the old year. BY ladders lifted 10 the
tower and by strong hands, take hold and
halt the city clock. No. noi' says the
city clock. I cannot wait until you cor
rect all evils or soothe all sorrows or
drive out all sin. / have been counting
the steps of your progress as a city.
have seen your opportunities. have de-
plored your neglects; but time wasted is
wasted forever. | must 90 on. / must 20
on. Tick-tockl Tick-tockr
But In the tower Of the Capitol here at
Washington and all the great national
capitals there are clocks. Suppose that
by Presidential proclamation and resolu-
ton of Senate and House OF Representa-
tives our national clock in the Capitol
turret be ordered TO stop Stop. oh,
clock! until our Sabbaths are better kept
and drunkenness turns to sobriety, and
bribery and dissipation quit the land.
No. says the clock. I have been going
on so long / cannot afford to stop.
sounded the birthday of American inde-
pendence. | rang out the return of peace
in 1866. ! have seen many Presidents in
augurated. / struck the hour OF Lincoln's
assassination. have beat time for eman-
cipation proclamation and Chicago fire
and Charleston earthquake and epidemie.,
of fever and cholera. Nations never stop.
They march on toward salvation or demo-
lition- And why should 1 stop? ] chime
for the national holidays toll for the
mighty dead. / must go on. / must go
on. Tick-toek! f'iek-tock: II will be a
serious occasion when. on Monday night.
December 81. about the same hour the
family clocks and the city clocks and the
national clocks strike Onei Twoi Three
Four! Five, Six Sevenl Eight Nine
Ten! Eleven! Twelve.
Sorry am ] to have 1860 depart this
life IL has been a good year. Vsha;
prignt days What starry nights! What
harvests! What religious convocatlonsl
What triumphs Of art. and science, and
Invention, and enterprise, and religion.
But. alas, how sacred IL has been with
sorrows. What pillows hot with fever,
that could not be cooled, What graves
opening vide enough 20 take down beauty
and strength and uselfulnessi What octo-
genarians putting down the stan OF earth.
~ pilgrimage and taking the crown 0i
heavenly deward. What children. as In
Bible-time. crying. My head. my head
And they carried him 10 his mother. and hs
sat on her knees until noon, and then died
What mingling Of emotions In this clos
ing year, What orange blossoms for the
marriage altar. and WI myrtle for the
ionbs Of the deadi HCssnnas and lamen-
tations IN collision. Anthem and dead
march mounting from the some ivory
KEYS Before this year quite leaves IN
earth, lei II hear our repentance for on
por,unities that can EaVer return. Kind
words spoken too lafe OF not suoken n
all Means Of getting good. OF doing
good. so completely gone by. that the
archangePs voice could not recall them
Can II be that this year IS closing. and
our wrOng-dolnes are ,inforefven. and va
have no rrtainty that when our last De.
ceTnher ~ has sred away we shall enter q
bissful eternity7 The most Ovsrgheln.
lngly solemn week % ali the year Is .he
last week of December.
PrspsSe for 'he New Year.
''Yut 5n op'sning this subject. IN respect
81 holy day as my text puts II. or a
holiday, as We uoderns write and pro.
nOunee II. I advised mat you divide INF.
season into three chapters: The frss. a
chapter Of iiiustrious birthday: the sec.
ond. chapter OF annual aecadenee. and
the third. a chapter Of chronological IN.
PRODUCTION. and this last ehaEfer we have
reached. In oiden-tifnes there was a style
CT closing an Old year and opening a
new one that was very suggestive The
family would sit rp until ~ O'Clock al
night. and when the clock struck u the