Barbour County index., 1905-12-20
TRUCE OF CHRISTMAS DAY
Song of Israel Causes Suspension of
Hostilities Which Neither Army
Could Resist.


"On the night preceding tho 25tl
of December, 1870" began a captain
according to the Methodist Recorder,
Il was in command of a company OF
volunteers engaged In the defense of
Paris. The siege had already lasted
three months, and In the trenches my
brave comrades were enduring martyr
dom Of suffering and privation. The
cold was biting bitterly; the stars were
shivering in a cloudless sky; the moon
shone brightly on the snow-clad plain
between us and the enemy; the Ger
man trenches were so close to us that
we could hear the passwords of their
sentinels as, hour by hour, they were
relieved and passed into their camp.
las was walking about to keep my
feet from freezing, one Of my men
came up to me, and, saluting. said:
Captain, l have strange request to
make; I want you to permit me for q
little while to leave the trenches
Leave the trenches?' replied.
But why? Because it is so cold? 1t
will be warm enough when we begin
to fight
cit is not that. ask you, as a
favor, to allow me for a little while
to leave my post. 1 cannot tell you
why; but, if you grant me leave,
promise you you won't regret it,
Impossible! You want to go to
Paris. If give you leave, 1 cannot
well deny it to the rest
No, not to Paris, said he, smil-
ing, but in that direction, pointing
toward the German lines. I shan't be
long
HE had aroused my curiosity I
granted him permission, but warned
him that he would most probably get
killed.
NO fear he said. and. leaping over
the ramparts, he walked into the mid
die of the plain.
1--WE followed him with our eyes,
listening for the sharp crack Of the
enemy's rifles, and expecting at every
step to see him fall. Not a sound.
save the crunching of the frozen snow
beneath his feet! AS soon as he had
come within hearing of the German
sentries he paused, saluted, and began
II,
with the refrain:
"NoeIt Noel! Christ is King of Israeli"
1T was so unexpected and so simply
done, the strain took from the night.
the scene, the circumstances, such
beauty and sublimity that the least
religious of us hung upon his lips.
and the hardest hearted in our trench
were moved. The Germans neither
| spoke nor stirred. It seemed as If q
spell had bound them all in silence and
| in immobility. The simple strain had
| doubtless made them think of home
and of the happy groups around the
| glittering Christmas trees beyond the
| Rhine. They were evidently listening.
| for no other sound was audible-not
| step, not movement of arms. As
| soon as X had done his hymn
he gave ANOTHER military salute. turned
on his heel as on a pivot, and delib-
| erately walked back to our line.
| well, captain said he, are you
sorry that you gave me leave?'
| Before could reply, soldier had
begun to move across the snow from
the opposite camp. He, like x.
saluted, and, between the companies
of armed men, he sang German ver-
sion of the Noel, Noel that the
| French recruit had sung I had given
orders, though they were superfiuous.
not to fire on him. He sang the hymn
through, verse by verse, and when he
came to the refrain, the soldiers in
both camps Joined in the chorus:
Noel Noel! Christ hath ransomed
| Israeli
| "The same emotion filled all hearts.
| All diversities and enmities had been
| forgotten in the presence of the
Prince of Peace. The soldier then de-
| parted to the German lines and dis
appeared. A few hours later we be-
gan to fire again"