Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-23

ing ready, wanting, for instance, TO
fasten his shoe, or remedy any acct
dental Inconvenience the cry Of Mich
olas entitled him to protection just as
that Of Fen" grants temporary I'M
munity to the American schoolboy,
while that of "King's x" is used by the
girls, as a cry which gives them sane
tuary, as It were, from the pressure
of the game for a moment.
While st. Nicholas in the early days
seems to have confined himself to
shoes and stockings as receptacles for
his gifts Santa Claus is broader, more
latitudinarian in his views as TO
whence they shall come-is impartial,
caring not whether they be placed in
stockings or suspended from wonder
fully Illuminated trees. But even
when the tree is used stockings, though
they be only of net, play an important
part in its adornment
In some countries he is known to
secreto the presents in plates or bowls
left out for that purpose. The tree
as a gift-bearer Is no modern idea.
1t is older than st. Nicholas or Christ
mas day itself. Indeed in the days
OF creation it was coeval with Adam
and Eve, for did it not bear the fruit
OF all knowledge of which they ate?
But apart from that, the early Egyp-
tIuTs used the palm tree as tree
On which they hung gifts for their
friends and i'm Rome n fir tree was
eayly illuminated at the feast Of Sat-
uin and at the festival of the Sigil-
laria. which followed hard upon the
Saturnalia. Roman matrons hung upon
it's friendly branches little waxen i'm
ages of NEUROLOGICAL personages which
wire given to the children, who re-
celved them with the same joy as do
modern children their Christmas gifts.
Like our Christmas presents these lit
tie gifts were distinguished by the
name of the festival, Sigillaria, at
which time they were given.
1t is not unlikely that the idea OF
a Christmas tree sprang from its use
by the Romans. Though in the notth->
ern countries the world tree, the
Yygdrasil of the Scandinavians, with
its roots in the earth and its upper
branches reaching heavenward, may
have been it's origin.
The legend of Boniface, apostle to
the ancient Germans, tells it was he
who gave the people the fir or pine
tree to bear to their home as the GEN.
ter of loving rites performed in the
warmth and light of the household,
instead of the cold and storm of the
winter night.
The story tells how the thunder oak,
sacred to the cruel god Thor, crowned
a lonely, snowclad hill. Beneath 1t
fire was lxindled near an altar sur
rounded by white-robed warriors who
waited to see the child victim die un-
der the hammer blow given by the
high priest.
Then came Boniface, bearing his
cross, symbol of the kindlier religion,
which was to overcome and cast out
that of the hammer. And he, telling
the oak, under which the cruel rites
were held in cold and quiet, bade the
people to take from the hill fir and
bear 1t to the chieftain's hall where
they would celebrate in peace and love
the birthnight of the White Christ,
who came to save and not to sacrifice
little children. So the fir became the
Christmas tree and the pagan rites
and festivities of the winter solstice
were each in turn spiritualized and
made symbolic of the new faith which
was to bring peace and good will to
man.
The mumming of the olden days, the
gay pranks of the Lord Of Misrule,
the bringing with rejoicing and CAROL
ing the great Yule log, the decking
Of church and Louise with green's of
many kinds, the superstitions connect
ed with the mistletoe, the wassail
bowls and mince pies and plum pud-
dings and goose pies, all the quaint
old customs of which we read when
looking up the records of bygone Eng
land, can be traced back to festivals
held in even older times at the period
Of the winter solstice.
And usually at these festivals