Giving and Receiving

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 150, 22 December 1922, Page 15

Giving and Receiving

( .. .. . ■ • : . | | The First Christmas Presents j

Research has revealed the fact that the earliest Christmas gifts were proffered nearly-two thousand yars'ago, and were received probably with the utmost perplexity.' They consisted principally of gold and frankincense and myrrh, ..and were laid at the feet of a tiny-baby lying in a manger in a stable in Judaea, the givers being three wise men—some Bay even kings—from the East—Mel-choir,-Caspar, and Balthasar.

The baby can have had nothing.to. say, and how its mother, who had been in a state of surprise for some months, arid her husband, who also had not a few thoughts to carry, behaved, we shall never know. But those were the first Christmas presents, and for over nineteen,hundred years the custom 1 of giving them has been growing; but whether the" art of giving them^ is. any nearer perfection is a question. \ ;■

All children born since then on 25th December have" felt it to be an injustice that their birthday and Christmas' Day, by coinciding, should deprive them of half their 'proper meed of presents; but a witty and- fanciful friend of mine makes startling suggestion that in 1 selecting this day to. be born on Christ gives yet another proof of His unselfishness. • '

As to what He thought as the grave strangers laid the offerings at His feet we also are in ignorance; but we know 1 that later, at.any rate; He gave- some attention to- the question of gifts, for. did He not bewilder all children . (especially,at Christmas) and' puzzle not a few of their elders by enunciating that astonishing proposition that it |i6~more blessed to give than to receive'? : CARELESS GIVERS. Even those, however, who require time to take in the full significance of ;th|s saying will readily agree that giving is usually, simpler — so much! simpler, indeed, that there is almost no comparison between -the two, actions. Giving: can be so easy as to be, almost' automatic, whereas receiving can make demands on • every, nerve.. Givers, particularly careless' ones—and most .givers think too little—can survive'to a great age,' and never have to practice any of the facial contortions and the tactful verbal insincerities which recipients of their generosity must be continually calling to their aid; whereas, if the art' of giving were rightly under-' stood and practised, the only expression to be seen on the features of the receivers of presents should be one of surprise and joy mingled, and that phrase, which is almost as comman at this time of year as/Same to you"'—"Oh, thank you so much; it's exactly what I wanted," should ring with the bell-like tones and vibrations of genuineness. As it is —wholly because giving' is so Eimple; an affair of a shop-assistant's advice; — of the writing of a cheque —as it is, most elephants are white. . ■ j ■WHERE HISTORY IS SILENT.. j Profane as well as sacred history tells us more of the giving of presents than of their reception. In fact, to enumerate the, offerings'of king to king is one of the historian's simple pleasures. But we have, asa rule, no information either as to thejremarks made.by the recipient whose appraising eye checks off the apes and the ivory and. the peacocks or the consultations of the Ministers of. State as the consignment of generosity is being made up. Only one can see them in committee: "Don't you think" (the Chancellor of the Exchequer is speaking) "two hundred milk-white steeda excessive? Wouldn't one hundred do?" "Or even fifty?" "Yes, or' even fifty. ' It isn't as if we were visiting a really firstclass Power"—and so with thel bars ;of gold, the precious stones, the spices (such ■] as the Queen of Sheba carried to ■ Solomon), all would have to be carefully measured according to the importance of the other monarch or the need of his friendship. And then there ia his side of the transaction: "Well, I must say I think they might have been a little less mingy. Only five hundred bales of silk! Not enough for more than, half the ladies of the Court; for you can't expect any two to wear the same colour. And only thirty palfreys! Distinctly on the mean, ; side." One may have forgotten what Henry the Eighth gave' Francis the First -I at the' Field of the Cloth of Gold, but the oddg are that not a little criticism resulted. And yet the odds also are that Francis, in'excellent French, said'that it was exactly what he had been wanting. In those old days the first, thought ;of the receiver of a present was to return it in kind; which has a certain crudity, and indeed imports an ...element o.f^cal- 1 culation into the act of giving at'all. , It was impossible for, the. visiting monarch not to .speculate on .what he.was going to receive on his departure; and that is bad. , A small child intently, preparing,' under what sho. conceives to ,be, condif' tions of profound secrecy, a gift for another is one of the prettiest of sights. It would lose half its. charm at least,if, it were-the rule that on presenting ;it ehe was instantly to be handed one for herself. ' ■ ... UNWELCOME GIFTS. „, Proverbial philosophy warns us not to look gift-horses in the mouth; but the lessons 'of the past 1 point in the other direction. Troy would still be standing had the advice of the old saw been disregarded. None the less, it might do a world of good if "one Christmas we all decided to tell the truth and say exactly what we thought, of , our presents. "Thank you for nothing.' I can- see where you've erased your own name' and put mine in." "Surely I wa3 worth more than three-and-eleven! I saw these at Barker's last week and noted the price." '.' '.'''■' "What's the'use of giving me a. diary when you must know I never keep' one!" "Good heavens, you don't really expect' me to wear a tie of that colour!"'; • , " But in spite of the salutary effect upon givers which might result, I doubt if we could go so far,. The human family is held together so largely by compromise and lack of candour that its total disintegration might follow; .-and, do we want that yet? Not 'before the next cricket season,, at any rate. .■■... THE MYSTERIOUS GIFT. So much for the wrong kind of present. As for the best, it has been laid down that no present is worth having unless the giver would rather have kept it" for himself; and I think the truth lurks here. And there is still another variety, but it cannot b» very common. At least—perhaps it is. ' ; At a certain home, the head of which' 1 was a stern and not too lavish autocrat in the house, whatever he might have been out of it, there was delivered one Christmas Evo a mysterious box brought by a mysterious man, who refused'to divulge ,any particulars, merely saying it was for the master. ; When, after much speculation, it was opened, it was found to contain a'massive piece of :-!lveiy on which was an inscription stating that it was the gift of an unknown neighbour, and was offered as some recognition of the many kind and generous acts .which the recipient! had, >^ithjn the

donor'i oognisanoe, performed/ cftgi with complete anonymity. The master of the house did npt!coß>f ceal his satisfaction as he read this «t graved testimonial, even if hit f*mily were, more successful with their surprise) Long afterwards it.]; was discov. ered that, with the idea of impreiising them, he had Bent it to himself;.' ■;