The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-12-24
BY WASHINGTON IRVING.


latch, and join the gossip knot hu9-
died round the hearth beguiling the
long evening with legendary jokes
and oft-told Christmas tales
One of the least pleasing effects
of modern refinement, is the havoc
ii has made among the hearty Old
holiday customs. 1t has completely
taken off the sharp touchings and
spirited reliefs of these embelliSh-
ments of life, and has worn down So
ciety into more smooth and polish
ed, but certainly less characteristic
surface. Many of the games and
ceremonials of Christmas have entire
~ disappeared, and, like the sherris
sack of old Falstaff are become mat
tiers of speculation and dispute among
commentators. They fioul ishcd in
times full Of sd IT and histIho ID;
times wild and Dictu .csuun whicr
have furnished poetry with its richest
materials, an 1 the dram:t with lis most
attra ctive vaI.,iy O. chara tiers and
manoc,rs. The w.tli has become
more worldly. Tit ! is more of DIS
sipaton an1 l2ss III eni ,ynte:lr. Pleas
ure has expanded into a broader nut
a shailoWer Straln, aud has f"rsak-
en- many of those ,!r'J AMI 'nirt
channels, where it flowed sweetly
through the calm bosom If iontstic
life. Society 1as acquire I II more
enlightened AM ,l,.g;lnt [ ne baI
it has lost many of is strong logical
pecularities, it's homebred feelings,
honest fireside delights. The tradi-
tionary customs of golden hearted
antiquity it's feudal hospitalties, and
lordly wassailings. have passed away
with the baronial castles and stately
manor-houses in which they were cell
ebrated They comported with the
shadowy hall, the great oaken gal
lery and the tapestried parlor, but
are untitled for the light SNOWY sa-
looms and gay drawing-rooms Of the
modern villa.
Shorn, however, as it is, of its an
Client and festive honors, Christmas
is still a period of delightful excite
ment in England. 1t is gratifying to
see that home feeling completely
aroused which holds SO powerful
pace in every English BOSOM. The
preparations making on every side for
! the social board that is again to unite
friends and kindred-the presents of
good cheer passing and repasslng,
those tokens of regard and quickeners
of kind feelings-the evergreens dis
| tributed about houses and churches,
emblems of peace and gladness-all
these have the most pleasing effect
kindling benevolent sympathies. Even
| the sound of the waits. rude as may
| be Their minstrelsy, breaks upon the
| midwatches Of a winter night with the
| effect of perfect harmony AS | have
| been awakened by them in that still
| and solemn hour when deep sleep
| falleth upon man. | have listened
with a hushed delight, and connecting
| them with the sacred and joyous oc-
| casion, have almost fancied them into
another celestial choir, announcing
peace and goodwill to mankind. How
| delightfully."- the Imagination, when
wrought upon by these moral influ-
| ehces turns everything to melody and
! beauty, The very growing of the cock
| heard sometimes in the profound re-
| pose of the country. "tell ng the night
! watches to his feathery DANES" was
| thought by the common people to an
nounce the approach Ct the sacred
festival:
some say that fever gainst that
season comes
Wherein our Saviour'S birth was
celebrated,
This bird of dawning s:ngeth all
night long:
| And then, they say, no spirit dares
stir abroad
| The nights are wholesome--then
| no planets strike.
| No fairy takes. no witch hath power
! to charm,
So hallowed and so gracious is the
time"
| Amidst the general call to happi-
| ness, the hustle Of the spirits, and stir
| of the affections. which prevail at
this period, what bosom can remain
| insensible? 1t is, indeed, the season
| of regenerated feeling-the season
| for kindling not merely the fire of
! hospitality in the hall, but the genial
| flame of charity in the heart. The
| scene of cary love again rises green
| to memory beyond the sterile waste
/ of years, and the idea of home.
! fraught with the fragrance of home
| dwelling joys, teammates the droop-
| ing spirit--as the Arabean breeze will
sometimes watt the freshness of the
| distant fields to the weary pilgrim OF
| the desert.
Stranger and sojourner as | am in
| the land---though for me no social
| hearth may blaze. no hospitalble roof
| throw open its doors, nor the warm
grasp of friendship welcome me at the
| threshold-yet / feel the influence of
| the season beaming into my soul from
| the happy looks of those around me.
| Surely happiness is reflective, like the
| light of heaven; and every counten-
ance bright with smiles, and glowing
with innocent enjoyment, is a mirror
| transmitting to others the rays of a
supreme and ever-shining benevolence.
! He who can turn churlishly away
| from contemplating the felicity of his
| fellow beings. and can sit down and
repining in his loneliness when all
around is joyous, may have the mo-
| ments of strong excitement and sell
| fish qualification, but he wants the ge-
NAL and social sympathies which con-
stitute the charm of a merry Christ
mas.
Win Would Come?