The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-12-23

While the inhabitants of countries
in which Christianity is the dominant
religion number less than half of the
worlds population, it is safe to pre-
dict that the festival of the Nativity
of the Founder of Christianity will be
celebrated next Saturday by at least
few persons in every land beneath the
sun 4 And wherever and however 1t IS
observed. It is always and every
where a joyous feast. Critics of Chris,
tianity have called it a sad, joyless
and ascettc faith, but, whatever the
austerities Of its early disciples, It mas
adopted as its own the merriest and
happtest festival Of all the pagan
world.
That Jesus was not born on the
twenty-fifth. nor even in the Month or
December, is now generally accepted.
The adoption Of that date for the OBJ
servance of the Nativity was doubtless
a concession to ancient praetlces
which had enjoyed a wide vogue since
the dawn of history, and probably long
i before. The Winter solstice, when the
/ sun reaches its most southern tdec1n-
alton and begins it's upward journey,
was almost universally celebrated by
| the ancients. To them it meant the
i triumph of light over darkness. the
renewal of life on the dead planet, and
1.-The promise of Springtine and harvest
The Persians held festivities at this
period of the year in honor of Mithra,
god of the sun, and the old Greeks mad
a similar feast in honor of Dlonysus.
The people of India paid tribute to
the god Soma, and the Romans ded1-
1 Gated to Saturn. their most joyous cele-
/ bration, that of Saturnalia- The Druids.
of ancient Britain held their feast OF
Frey at this period.
{ The observance of Christmas prob
ably had its beginning in the second
century of the Christian era. The
date of the Nativity was a matter of
much controversy, which was altogeth-
err futile, since nothing was definitely
/ known on the sub ject. - For many
lyears the controversy continued some
christians observing the Nativity In
| April, others in March, and still others
in December. The, latter were the
sopportunists', of the new faith. who
believed in conciliating the pagans on
tunimportant matters in order to win
them over. and this party eventually
brought about the adoption of the
ltwenty-f1fth of December as Christmas
/
i The custom of giving gifts on
/ Christmas is also an adaptation of a
pagan custom. During the Saturna-
i liza. and Pagana1ia feasts Of the Ro-
mans gifts Of dolls, toys, cakes and
money were distributed among the
sHcnlIQTen and servants. AT aSuCh t1IneS,
Itoo, distinctions of caste and class
lwere temporarily, set aside, and slaves
attained equality with their mast ers
i a development of democracy impos-
i siblet in these days, for not even the
EChristmas spirit permits servants to
sit at table with. their employers nor
Ito engage in sports, pastirnes and rev
els with their masters. The giving of
lgffts was later development in
j Christianity, and in some countries
was=and is4-a feature of the festival
of st. Nicholas, the patron of children.
Nearly all of the customs peculiar to
i christmas are of pagan origin. The
Tnistletoe was consid cred sacred by the
Drufds and Norsemen and the custom
Of kissing under the mist1etoe was a
= Druidical religious rite. Christmas
4 candles were adapted from the custom
lof the Jews in the observance of the
s festival of ChanucFz or the Dedica-
i ton of the Temple. The YuIe-log was
introduced in the north of Europe as
a substitute for candles. The Christ
mas tree found tits earliest develop
4 ment In Germany. and it may be that
lit is peculiar to Christianity, although
the ancient Egyptians made branches
of the palrn-tree a prominent feature
of their observance of the Winter SOL
stice. The Christmas tree was intro
duced into America by the early Dutch
settlers. but it was little used in Eng
land until the middle of the last CEN
tury
Many ofit1e gastronornfc delights In
Icident to the Christmas feast may be
traced back to ancient times. Plum
pudding was a favorite Wand of the
Vikings, and theHs consumed quanti-
ties Of the indigestfb1e dainty that
would seem Incredible to the most
fgluttonous OF present day gourmets.
A connection somewhat similar to the
modern nlince pie was a festival food
of the ancient Britons.
In times of peace the Germans are
perhaps the most enthusiastic observ-
ers of Christmas. Weihnachtsfest is
the feast of. feasts. This is especial
" true of the southern German states.
where the ancient Teutonic Christmas
customs are combined with the rites
~