Bisbee daily review., 1911-12-24
Christmas Eve
 & ,& ,* s* Significance of the Great Festival of Christ
Ry c. O. ANDERSON


 from the sun, it has again brought us 10 that season of the year called win ter. when nature around us, excepting the higher forms Of animal life. lie dormant, as if in death, and the sur roundings are bleak and forbidding it has also brought ms to that parti- cular portion of the year designated as Christmas.
 Christmas tChrist's mass) is the day the nativity of the Savior is ob- served. It is almost certain that De cember 9, is not the day, for it is the height of the rainy season in Judea, and it is improbable that at this time Of the year that shepards were tending their flocks by night on the plains of Bethlehem. The causes which have contributed to fix this period as the proper one, is that -practicaly all the heather nations have regarded the winter sOlstices as the beginning of renewed life and activity of the powers of nature and Of their gods, who were originally merely symbolical personifications of these The Gauls and the Germans, from the earliest times, celebrated the winter solstice with great festiyi- ties. The Germans held their great Mule feast, in enumeration of the return of the fiery sun wheel, and be- lieved that during the twelve nights, from December 9 to January 6, they could trace the personal movements and interfeTanCes, on earth, of their great dieties The Roman SaturnaHa, lasted from December r to 24, and was originally an agricultural festival, connected with the end of late sow ing. and the turning of the year at the winter solstice. Schools and courts were closed and military op- erations suspended. that the army might celebrate. Freedom was given tha slaves, who occupied the first place at the family tables, and were waited upon by their masters. It is especially appropriate that the nativi- ty of Christ should be celebrated at this time of the year to commemorate the dawn of the Christian religion, and the beginning of the great spirit ual awakening, which 1t ushered into existence.
 At this time Rome was the mistress of the civilized world. She rose from the central basin of the Medit- erranean in all her historic splendor. More skilled in the art of conquest in establishing durable political ties be- tween nations, in promulgGting and enforcing a just system of laws, she had subjueated and ruled nearly lh Europe, Northern Africa, and West ern Asia. IL was the golden age of Augustus. A dcsp yearning for peace had siezed upon her restless heart, the gates of the temple of Janus, which had been ajar for geo years, were closed, as a symbol that the turmoil Of war was hushed, and that peace reigned throughout all her wide domains. While the civilized world was thus resting under the eX- tended wings O. the angel of peace, what a fitting time for the Prince Of Peace. to be born?
 The edict of Augustus Ceasar had gore forth that a census should be taken of the population of his vast empire, and Bethlehem had been des- ignated the registration point for Ju- dea. Samaria and Galilee. Joseph and Mary ia obedience thereto. left their abode in Nazareth. and with others journeyed to Bethtehem; and now we come to one of the poetical night scenes of the Bible, which has stirred the Christian world for nearly two thousand years
 It is night on tho plains of Bethle- hem, the sentinel stars are out in their fiery armors on the battlements Of heaven. the air is tremulous with their cold and tvinkling light, the consultations Of the north are circl- ing around the north pole in the silent order Of their eternal arch, to the same rythm as when they sang to- gether at creations dawn to the vest and east rose the dark ridge Of mountains: the silence only broken hv re a oe Ire wind over the desert s..--1. .-... tnJ dismal howl Of a provling beast of prey. or an occasional clatter of horses hoofs as praeterean guard galioped over the highway Of Imperial Rome, while directly over Bethlehem like a fairy opaIescent pendant hung the star of the east. A few shepards were guard ing their flock on the lonely plain. when suddenly a great light burst upon them, and vast angelic choir sang for the first time. the undying roem of praise, Pace on Earth,  Good Will tO Men.
 The Christmas tree is an emblem of Christmas and of Christianity, it has withstood the storm and tempests Of nearly two thousand years, grow ing ever larger and stronger, it's branches C6ershadoRTng nearly ev- cry continent and isle of the sea; it Is ever green, because throughout it's long tempestuous existence, it's fresh ness and vigor, and the beauty of it $ yePiure have never been dimnTsd 5 the presents on it are emblematic Of the blessing, both spiritual and tenn poral ws enjoy under it's benilicent influence. the burning tapers upon ii are emblematic of the spiritual and intellectual light which has ever ac companied it, and found shelter among it's sl eding branches li is the Christian nations oa earth that have reached inc highest development and civilization.
 In a few short hours the bells Ol St Petersburg will herald The dawn Of Christmas day. lt win re-echO al Rome. and throughout the Vatican and roll in wavy pillows of sound
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