Little Falls herald., 1900-12-28
CHRISrMlS IN MERIC q.

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CHRISTMAS llliERIcA
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#. Christmas is cu1iarly the festival.
Of JOY, the day when the gladness of the
deliverance in which every Christian
believes is xpressed, the American
people have certainIy ~ done well in cons
tinuing the festival where its celebra-
tion is native to them, and reviving it
where 1t had become obsolete. The
whole human race, and particularly
the youthful part Of it, is fairly en-
titled to a good deal Of merrymaking.
Wholesome fun helps to form we'll
rounded character-to build up com
plete man or Woman-and to this ex.
tent is the handmaiden Of religion it.
self. e. 4. :' ~ & %#.
Our own American people have right
fully inherited good deal of fun. The
English people, who supplied the first
important ingredient in our national
compound, were perhaps little too
jovial. At all events the settlers Of
New England found it necessary to be
somewhat unduly sad by way Of pro-
test against their conduct. One form
of protest was to Danish all the old
English church holidays, and Christi
mas with the rest. -..@
Indeed, there is great deal of his
torical evidence to show that the ma
jority- of the people in England had in
a great measure forgotten the solemn
aspect of Christmas in the festive as
pect of it, and that the ''lord Of mis-
rule" who reigned on Christmas eve
and sometimes for long while after
ward, had things quite too much his
own way. 49,.
But the wholesome reaction did not
by any means extinguish the capacity
for innocent enjoyment which is really
inborn in the Anglo-Saxon nature. It
has come out strongly in subsequent
generations of Americans.
Meantime the jolly Dutch settlers Of
New York, the old-fashioned cavalier
settlers of Virginia. and the south, the
good-hearted Germans of Pennsylvania
and those who have come later, and the
Irish people, who were merely sprin-
kled along through the earlier days
of settlement but who came in copi-
Gus, helpful showers more recently,
have always believed in Christmas and
kept it alive.
Now. every one believes in Christ
mas. The gospel of joy is preached
every year in all our temples. The
heavenly story which belongs to the
day is heard by ears and sinks into
hearts which have been well prepared
for it by great deal of unselfish glad
ness; for true Christmas fills the heart
more with the pure gladness of giving
pleasure than with the poorer satis-
faction of being given it.
Our American Christmas begins to
take an American form, as is the case
with the people, the ideas, the lam
guage, and everything else which has
been brought here from the old world.
We borrow from the Christmas festi-
walls of European ma tions what seems to
be best adapted to our own require
!ments. Santa Claus, the German, is
naturalized an American, and the Ger
man Christmas-tree takes root~in our
soil. So does the English holly. Eng
lish Christmas songs of course are
easily sung by American voices; while,
on the Christmas board, the native
American turkey has never been
known to quarrel with good British
plum-pudding.
Good cheer. indeed, is a proper part
of the gospel of joy, if it is shared.
Music belongs in an especial way to
Christmas, for the gladness that can
not express itself in any other way
pours itself out freely in song. H..
Flowers, the earth's own expression
of Joy, should not be absent from
Christmas celebra tions where they can
be procured; and where they cannot,
the green boHghs of evergreen trees
may well testify to the universal faith,
white, in the sure renewal of all the
life that sleeps. 49,. -.. ..
The coming of Christmas is to be
hailed. then, by more than the young,
for more than they may well have,
when it comes. ''the best time of all
the year." It's coming is token that
there can be no gladness without
benevolence-that s'goodwill toward
men, is the very foundation of s'peace
on EARTH" And SO, a Merry Christmas
to all our readers, and to all the world.
Youths Companion.
with hope millions stand on the.
closing day of the year with faces to-
ward the future" writes Mrs. Hamil-.
ton Mott, in the Ladies' Home Jour.
nal. what will the New Year bring
me?' each one asks himself. No one
knows. And how well it is that we do
not. It requires sober thought to re-.