The Marlborough Press. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1872.

Marlborough Press, Volume XIII, Issue 832, 25 December 1872, Page 2

The Marlborough Press. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1872.

As the ever recurring season of Christmas comes round, and the time is celebrated by holidays that have become honored on account of the regularity of their observance, many are apt to enquire, What is the good of Christmas, and why should it be kept. This spirit of questioning has gained strength in latter days, and is a proof that institutions are on their trial. Yet, with all the levelling tendencies of the age, the good time that is associated in the minds of all as one that should be kept with due observance, has withstood the shocks to which it has been subject, and still in this portion of our common Greater Britain is held as a time apart from the common in which license is taken and pleasures indulged in. All in the Colony, whose thoughts can carry them back over a vista of years, can picture to themselves a Christmas as it is popularly portrayed and as it is supposed to be kept in England. This view, common enough in literature and practice, pictures everything connected with the season in a jovial and rollicking light. Everyone knows the pictures drawn in “ Christmas Books r * and “ Christmas Numbers ” the bright kitchens, heated by roaring fires tended by rubicund cooks, the turkeys, chines, sirloins of beef and saddles of mutton, the geese and apple sauce, the prize poultry and sucking pigs, mince pies and other delicacies; while, above all, lord plum-pudding himself, decked with a sprig of holly, and with his flaming coat of bi’andy sauce, borne triumphantly to the dining room, amid the shouts of children, and a look of gratification on the pleasant features of the kindly hostess. We can read how that after the feast is over, the host with his guests retire into a dimly lighted room, lined with black oak and deeply wainscoted, and by the light of the blazing

wood fire relate stories of old or the present time, which, if containing a dash of something horrible or mysterious, is more in keeping with the scene. While the elders are regaling themselves after their fashion, the younger ones are indulging in round games or taking part in pastimes in which the mystic misletoe plays an important part; winding up with a dance to the good old tune of “ Sir Roger de Coverley,” which is continued so far into the night that the midnight chimes are heard, and the last stroke proclaims that merry Christmas is gone, and the company separate at peace with themselves and all men, and acknowledge with thankfulness the benign influence of so holy and happy a season. This is the Christmas as limned for us by popular writers, and there are many amongst us that can bear testimony to the general truthfulness of the picture. This aspect of the season is a pleasant one; and if Christmas is kept, it as well to keep it as near the manner of our forefathers as altered circumstances, scenes, seasons, and tastes will admit. We learn from experience that relaxation and recreation are a necessity, to allow of a proper comprehension and execution of the sterner duties of life; and if rest and play be needed in these days of mad hurry after wealth or position, it is well that days should be set apart from the rest and made by the tacit consent of the people times when business should be suspended and the world be indulged in a temporary forgetfulness of the darker side of life. After all, however, it does not always rest with man to take an active part in the rejoicing and mirth with which he is surrounded; for, as age creeps on, the sterner realities present themselves more vividly to the sight, and they are so obtrusive that the veil of festivity will not altogether cover them up. Knowing this, though anxious to assist the younger membefs of the great human family to indulge in all the pleasures the season affords, they know also that the most enjoyable of pleasures are but evanescent, and that to lose oneself in the present is to neglect the future. The pleasures of the Christmas tide are what are mostly thought of when the holidays are mentioned, but current with the pleasures runs another and altogether nobler view. From the time the message was delivered to the shepherds while watching their flocks, “ Peace on earth and goodwill towards men,’" the season has been looked upon as most appropriate for the removal of animosities, for the reconciliation of differences, and for the bringing together of the various members of our human brotherhood who have become estranged from each other. There are times when even the bitterest of enemies feel that the animosity they entertain one against the other is ill judged; when they think that it would be well if they could only clasp the hand of him who has offended, them, and, in one hearty grasp, shake off the ill feelings that assist to embitter the whole tone of life and make them look with suspicion upon all mankind. For the good Christmas has done in this respect we should love it, and hold it in all reverence when we remember how many unruly sons and erring daughters have been received back into the family fold on account of the calling into being of a kindlier feeling at this season of universal rejoicing. Children in the Colony now growing up will keep Christmas only because their fathers did so ; they will have none of the hallowed associations that made the time so dear to them, and they will regard it merely as a break in the year to be devoted to pleasure, without one thought for the many reasons mankind has to be thankful for for the thoughts engendered and actions performed on the anniversary of Christmas day. It is well perhaps that this should be so ; yet we cannot but regret that everything is so changed as to make it a matter of impossibility for the colonial grown children to take the same heartfelt interest in Christmas and its surroundings as their fathers did; still with the next generation, those who will fill our places, there will remain enough teaching to make them look upon the festive season we this day celebrate as one that should be observed above the common. We hope all our readers will be able to take part in the pleasures of the season without one thought or act to mar their enjoyment, and that they will to the full comprehend and receive all the benefits comprised in the sincere wish of a Merry Christmas.