The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-12-16

other ship had brought load of emf
grants and of this colony William
Bradford, q stern Puritan, was gov
ernor. He formally outlawed Christ
mas, as the Puritans of England had
done when they had gained control
of parliament, because it was looked
upOn-at least so far as the Old Eng
lish celebrations with their strange
mixture of ancient Druid customs and
Christian ceremonies-as a goddess
and pagan, rite" More than that, the
General Court of Massachusetts,,
frOwning upon the idea Of making the
Christmas season time of enjoy
ment, passed an enactment which
stated that "whO is found observing
by abstinence from labor, feasting Or
IN any other way, shall pay for every
offense five shillings."
For more than century the stern
Puritan influence prevented anything
but a most joyless observance Of
Christmas until the gradual growth
of Episcopal influence in Massachu-
sets and it's association with official
power, when the colony came under
the direct control of the crown,
brought about a relaxation of the
anti-C Christmas sentiment of the Puri-
tans. In contrast to the Massachu-
sets type of Christmas was that cele-
brated in the great manor houses in
Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and
Maryland, especially in those days
when George Washington was un-
known to fame except as a prosper
Gus Virginia planter. -
And it was this same George Wash
ington who was the central figure in
what is perhaps the most historic
Christmas in the annals of America.
On the evening of December %,
1776, the Continental army, led by this
former Virginia planter. was drawn up
for evening parade near Newtown,
Penn, nine miles above Trenton on
the Delaware river. Instead of return
ing to their quarters they were
marched toward McKonkey's ferry,
where Colonel Glover's fishermen from
Massachusetts bay were manning boats
and trying to launch them in the
river.
1t was cold raw evening and a
snow storm had set in. The wind was
from the northeast and beat in the
faces of the ragged, barefooted sol
diers, who were about to embark upon
one of the most desperate enterprises
in history. For Washington was plan
ming to cross the Delaware that night
and lead them on nine-mile march
over snowy roads to Trenton where
the Hessian troops of Colonel Rail-
were celebrating Christmas with feast
ing and merrymaking.
The crossing had begun at six
o'clock Washington had planned to
have his entire army on the Jersey
side by midnight, begin the march to
Trenton by one O'Clock, so that he
could make his attack just at day
light But the river ice threatened to
spoil his whole program and Gates
and other generals declared that the
whole scheme was impossible. The
iron will Of Washington was not to be
daunted, however, and although the
crossing took no less than ten hours
it was finally accomplished.
Then he set out for Trenton, and
after a terrible march, with some of
his men leaving tracks of blood in the
snow and others struggling along with
their guns wet and useless, he arrived
in Trenton and Immediately attacked.
AS he had anticipated, the appear
ance of his army was complete sur
prise. Although the Hessians rallied
and put up stubborn resistance for
short time, the determination of the
Continentals could not be denied.
Rail-, the commander, and seventy Of
his men were killed and 1000 of the
Hessians surrendered. So Christmas
day, 1776, is red letter day in Amer
lean history because ON that day a
great commander gave to his country
one of the finest Christmas gifts that
has ever been bestowed-a brilliant
victory at time when the cause of
freedom seemed all put lost.