Mountain advocate. (Barbourville, Ky.) 1904-1935, 1913-12-19
49, SS.SS,S.S.SSSIS
& CHRISTMAS -
FrrTS'rT TTTErr

ago, there was born in the little
village of Bethlehem of Judea,
the Christ Child, the Savior o!
the world. BY His slcrlics fer
ms upon the browof Calvary, the
present day civilization has been
made possible, for civilization Is
nothing more than religion APP
piled to our every day affairs.
Our religion is the Fundamental
base of our civilization, for with
out religion we would be as the
savage nations of Africa. 1t Is
the civilizing influence which
distinguishes us from our more
unfortunate savage brethren.
And it is not merely religion
which is the foundation of our
civilization, but it is the Chris
tian Religion. This fact is i'm
pressed upon even the most
skaptical Atheist or In ii d i,
when he studies seriously the
history of the world. The fol
lowers of Mohammed are relig-
ious. They practice their relig-
ious teachings to a far greater
extent than do we of the Chris
tian nations, but they have not
our wonderful civilization. Then
wherein lies the difference? 1t
can all he summed up in the life
90 4lo Cbviet
1t has been the custom of tn q
Christian nations of the world
for many centuries TO celebrate
the Birth of the Christ on the
twenty-lifth day Of Decem Der of
each year. This Is undou btedly
not the true date Of the birth of
Jesus of Nazareth, but that does
not matter so long as We bear In
mind the purpose of this joyous
Holiday season. One of the old
Popes of the Roman Catholic
Church being DESTROYS of hold
ing fittingcelebrations each year
to commemorate the birth of
Christ, appointed three of his
most learned men to investigate
the birth of the Savior and to
recommend season of the year
when this event should be cele-
brated. There was an old Gus
tom among the heather people
to celebrate the birth of one of
their gods at the time when we
now hold our Christmas. These
people had recently been con.
verified from their heateeuish
form Of worship, hut their old
folk lore customs still remained
with them, and for this reason.
because it was an established
custom among the people, it was
decided to hold the celebrations
of the birth of the Christ on the
same date and at the same seas
on at which these newly made
converts to the Christian Rehg
ion had been accustomed. SchOl-
airs and students Of ancient his
tory, prOfaue as well as Chris
tian, have reached the conclu-
sion after giving years of study
and thought to the matter, that
the real date Of the birth of the
Savior was either in the Spring
seasonor the early Summer. But
this matters not. 1t is the spirit
of love and goOd-fellOwship to-
ward our fellow man which real
ly makes the Christmas.
We have many good and an
cient customs handed down t.
us from the preceding genera
tions which we observe at this
season. Chief among these is
the custom of giving presents to
those we love. The Christmas
Tree, as we know it to-day, is
probably descended to US from
our early English forefathers,
who were likely the originators
of the idea. But its origin is re-
ally unknown. Our earliest En-
glish writers, however, very Of
ten speak of the Evergreen tree
used at Yule-tide. 1t was the
custom for the lords of high es-
tate 20 invite the whole country
side to the manor houses on the
eve of Christmas, and here gifts
would be provided for all. The
occasion was always joyous
one, and a feast was usually pro-
vided on the following day,
which was given over 10 rejoic-
ing and reyelry. Perhaps the |
best and most interesting de-
scription which we have Of the /
old Chhristmas celebrations Is
that given US by Addison, in his /
Sir Rogers de Coyerly papers.
The plainness and simplicity of
his IA 1 guage makes the charming