The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-11

Uhn Christmas appears on the ho-
 s,,or and its forerunners are seen on
 sver side, 1t affects two men you ana
 kpw very differently, each one ac-
 cordlg to his nature. There Is the
 ,na,who Is bored at the thought of its
 coLng. and lifts up his voice in lam
 enltion. He is angry at the disturb
 are of his fixed arrangements ne
 Inthes the festivities of the season. he
 trritated by the compulsion of gifts,
 n dislikes the intrusion of young peo- je upon the scene he Is i'll at ease lmid reasonable greetings, and he judges a Christmas sermon more tlre- some than any other. Were 1t in ms power he would abolish Christmas and old Christmas ways; but as 1t Is he goes out of town if 1t is possible, or hides himself in solitude till this ca lamity of general good nature and this saturnalia of simple hearted pleasure be over. Then there Is another man who has been built of God after anoth- CT plan. This good soul brisks up at the first hint of Christmas, and begins to put on, as 1t were, his Christmas garments at the beginning of Decem- Der All the month his face will be brightening and his heart warming and his voice tuning up for the 25th. His spare time he will spend selecting presents for his family and friends. writing letters to people in distant parts of the world, that man In the Northwest of Canada or guarding the Indian frontier may have greeting as near al possible on Christmas day. When the shops put on their finery he Is vastly pleased. and delights when his own house is studded with holly. Ills wife and he who share the same mind spend the last hours of Christ mas Eve in arranging gifts upon sep arate tables for every person in the house; but they make a great mystery about the gift which they have for one another and each goes down ear ly on Christmas morning to place it on the tables. And the young folk-for this kind of foolishness Is contagious, and no member of the family escapes it-have also paid a visit to the tables, zach one with his one gift for his fa- ther and mother, for his brothers and sisters; but he makes point in plac- ing them never to look at his own table. Frankly let 1t be admitted there is a tremendous to do on Christmas morning, a general shaking of hands and giving of kisses and exchanging of greetings, an outbreak of unselfishness and quite unaffected good nature. Eve " incident of the day Is tasted and enjoyed, the examination of the tables, each one of his own, and then the visit to the other tables. and the grateful pleasure in the gifts, and the wonder that anyone should have known what was wanted, and the hearty participa- tion in the Christmas service. and the tollity of the Christmas dinner, and the oid-fashioned games in the evening, and the regret, tender and kind, that another Christmas Is over. Two diff ferent men and two different natures, and two different customs. And the former Is getting to be the way now adays, and the moderns who pursue 1t sheer at Christmas and the Christmas spirit, and look down in very superior fashion upon the man who keeps Christmas as his fathers did, and ac- cording to the spirit of the Christian church.
 Well. which is wiser, and better the new-fashioned or the old-fashioned man? Ought the former to be so high and mighty? Should the latter hang his head when tine other comes in as if he had been caught playing the fool?