Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-12-27

home and cultivate the graccs OF low,
ing and giving, even as the delightful
orientals declare them.
Moreover, whether it be true or not,
as the gentle Thomas Haywood has II,
that he loves me best that calls mp 4
love-" a few lawful privileges in that
direction would certainly make supse1
jewel cases and the like more graceful
from any donor. The society friehdsioH
Mrs. Chadwick who received those
little, remembrances" of grand pianos
and tickets for Europeans trips at her
generous hands, must hays fals eff-
barrassed when her downfall came A
though perhaps, II they could face the
embarrassment In the beginning they
could brace themselves against IT III
the end. There are many nice points
in this matter of giving, however, that
the outsider cannot pass upon. .
It is not even clear what the wise
man meant when he said, "a gift III
secret pacifieth anger" and, consider:
Ing the use that has been made in the
political world of gifts in secret. ~ I
looks as If he ought not to have said
1T. Gifts III secret ought really to hive
higher purpose than even pacifyfng
anger, something of the nature OF that
sweet giving which the later counsel
or OF the ssithful indicated when he
said to the almsgiver. Let not thy
lett hand know what thy right hand
doeth." II seems as If 1t would be per-
fectiy lovely to be q Mrs. Russell
Sage and be able to dispense any num-
Der of such gifts right now. But there
1t no telling. It may be, as the tcrri- 1
Bile moralizers declares. that the dis
position to do good vantshes with the
accumulation of tho mcans for It, and,
with the nt1lionaire's wealth, one
might be shooting OF for the s.hl,ls ot
vanity" and running poor fellow aaoss
tails down With automobiles instead
of secretly putting money Ia their
purses or gifts in their ChrissInaa
stockings as a Christian should One
thing is certain. however, III the naze
and crookedness Of the whole prob
lem, and that is. shnt. resolved to It's
sane ana true character. the 10y OF
giving is one Of the redeeming glorios
of human life, which the angels them
selves might envy man. When all
other pleasures of time pale ID the Ne
clining years, the joy of making others
happy, Of giving good gifts to men.
can illumine the sky with glearn
that takes hold Sof eternity. That fs
should shine for both old and young
in the Christmas sky, which Is radiant
with the everlasting light Of the heay-
emily gift, is. indisputable, and to per-
vert or forbid the offerings of love and
godd will upon some altar, however
humble, which the day inspires, is to
strike at the Christmas FESTIVAL In
more vital manner than the stern Pur.
itans intended. u s, 5
Preliminary Symptoms.
The air Of mystery mother wears
these days when you come around isiA
not to be taken as evidence of hidden
guilt; she has Just the preliminary
symptoms of Christmas, bless her"
says one lingering believer III the good
Christmas and the SOW
ing hope, indeed, is that while there
are mothers and children left on our
troubled earth, the holy mother and
her welcome babe will not lacek hearts
to celebrate the Bethlehem mystery.
No society cutlery against Christians
shams and follies Of its own divising
can blur the hope and sp1endor of
that hour in the trembling mother
heart, nor kill the awe and tenderness
wakened in the child's pure soul by
the wondrous story. The real end Sof
the social revolt will be but to gather
the Yuletide jewellers mora securely
in ireside hooks and ancestral halls,
where perhaps, the better spirit Of the
Christmas festival may return to them.
Trust the little ones too, who gather
about that altar, to resolve the prob
lem of the Christmas gift. Values
are in the mind Alone" says "a very
sage philosopher, "if a trinket please
you, You are wise in exchanging for ID
a world that annoys you" but it is in
the child world alone that the sterling
worth of that reflection shines forth.
Observe the petted darling, turning
from all the costly gifts a world Of (
rich relatives can lavish upon her to
hug some plaster dog or moneyed
doll in ecstacy to her bosom. The
thing that pleases you. whether as
baby or man, is the thing of value
and a season that brings carloads to
annoy you Is season gone mad and
waiting only some god to redeem or
destroy it. That help should come .
from the child world, for the divine
child's festival, seems not inapprot1ri.
ate, and to get back to the simplicity
and honesty of the little child In
this question Of Christmas gifts and
celebrations would certainly do away
with the dread" so loudly expressed
and let little of the old-time light
and gladness in.
1t seems curious that this Christ.
mas trouble should spring from thu
more prosperous ranks Of life; but.
perhaps, like the complication OF
things which gave the -colored brother
his Christmas chicken because the
possum ate the chicken and he caught
the possun, the Christmas lost IN the
palace may be found in the cot, and
the season of hope. and gladness, when
"the bird Of dawning singeth allaight
long," not be quite torn from US, after
al.-Irene Clark Stafford in st. Louis
STOCKPORT.
Stockport Dec. 25.-Born. to MI. and
j. (S - =.