The La Jara chronicle., 1910-12-30
GIFTS.

always brings with 1t great
dea' of pleasure, a great deal @
money. The pleasure is oetw cen
those who are dear to "dch other,
the money comes from mistaken
ideas of the demands of society.
says Col 1. c. Goodwin.
It Is very sweet to receiv- gifts,
no matter how simple. from those
We owe; it is far sweeter to send
gifts to those we love. Fns only
real gifts are those which carry
with them a part of the heart of
the giver.
The perfunctory gifts that pass
as society duty, should be abol-
ished-they give neither the send
er or the recipient any good for
all the fragrance has been leached
out of them-if they carry any it
is "A borrowed perfume.
When a gift is made to carry
IN obligation with it, that is no
gift at all it is meant to buy
the recipient or portion of him
or her, and often the OBJ
ilgation rankles long after the
gift is forgotten. Gifts to pay
debts are just as barren of all
good. We still retain within us
a vast amount of ancient barbar-
ism. Sheba carried marvellous gifts
to Solomon. She had a double
purpose. One was to buy favor of
him, the other, no matter how dis
guised, was through the woman S
pride in her soul, for its dimes to
ducats, that when she superin-
tended the packing of them, she
was saying to herself: We will
see if this king whom they laud so
much can show any treasures finer
than these
The gift to an altar is a proper
one, for it is mute witness that
every man, after all, leans upon
power he cannot comprehend
but which he would, with all his
soul conciliate.
The wise men laid gold, frank
incense and myrrh at the feet OF
the newly-born Redeemer, "A token
of devotion which they could
find no words to express. But
IA gift to an earthly potentate is
not a gift, rather it is in another
way, an oath of allegiance to him,
or a bribe to secure his friend
ship or his clemency.
When the old farmer sends a
Christmas turkey to the President,
down deep he wants to get "A ma
tiaE wide advertisement for all
his other turkeys.
There are only two or three
kinds of presents that are appro-
pirate. A florist in France pro-
duced new and beautiful rose.
When Marshal Neil returned, Gov
cred with honors from the Franco
Sardinia Italian war, a great fete
vas given him in Paris. Empress
Eugene, then in the full splendor
If her loveliness was present and
graciously received the Marshal
She was wearing one of these
roses in her hair, and the Marshal
begged to know the name of the
lower. The empress, with all
her grace detached the rose and
placed it in the button hole of the
Marshal s coat, and as she did so
said: 1T shall be called Marshal
Neil Rose and since then it hai
always borne the name. The ma
shal is dead, the dethrOned em-
;.reSes is IA lone, joyless woman,
hut the rose blossoms regularly as
though the grace OF the gift had
given perfected life and fragrance.
When a man folds a treasury
note, puts it in a plain envelope
and directs it to some poor man
or woman who may be anxious to
give his loved ones a Christmas
dinner, that is gift which begins
to pay compound interest for
time and for eternity.
In the ordinary sense the only
real gifts are those that go from
friends to friends. A gift that
carries no love with it, is taste
less, sightless and has no frag-
rance, no matter how costly it