CHRISTMAS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XX, Issue 1415, 24 December 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

CHRISTMAS.

Christmas once more 1 No marvel that a singular joy thrills all Christendom, for he surely must be dull clay who refuses to rejoice at the advent of Christmas tide. He must be a sour and morose creature who, amidst the kindliness, charity, and good.will which rule during this great festival of the year, stands aloof untouched. There are not many such, we may be sure ; and so, look where we may, we shall discover joy and kindliness, smiles, and haply tears — though not bitter tears of grief. If there be those who weep, the tears they shed are those of tender retrospection. Fond memories may open the floodgates of the soul, but gently and kindly. It will be thus for the old, who live in memories of the past. With the young, this is the season for laughter and mirth. They, happy ones, live in the future. Hope is theirs — and they surely have a right, at this auspicious season to cherish it. The children do so; young lovers do so; the sturdy valiant youth, just entering into the battle of life does so. And, no less, though in a more serious mood, so may those who are going down the hill of life cherish hope at Christmas tide. Fox He in whose memory this sacred feast is held, came to us to give the hope and blest assurance which console the old.

At this time then all Christendom is elate. In the torrid as in the frigid zones, joy reigns. With punkahs swinging, and iced brandy pawnee at hand, the sweltering Anglo-Indian eats his Christmas plum pudding. In dreary Lapland, the sealskin-clad convert, celebrates the feast as taught by his pastors. In Borne the censer swings and the priests chant upon a hundred altars. In Russia the spirit of hospitality runs riot in peasant's as in noble's hearts. It is the season of divination for the simple superstitious Russians. Fortunes are told, nativities cast, and happy marriages prognosticated, the while the merrymakers sing: "May the bread and salt live a hundred

years, May our Emperor live still longer 1 May our Emperor never grow old 1 May his good courses never be tired 1 May his shining garments ever be new I May his good servants ever remain faithful 1 '

Among Scandinavian natives this is the great festival season of the year. In Sweden several families gather together, each bringing a supply of provisions for the Yule-tide feast. As George Withers quaintly sings :—: — " Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke, And Christmas blocks are burning ; Their ovens they with baked meat choke, And all the spits are turning. Without the door let sorrow lie, And if for cold its hap to die, We'll bury it on a Chrismas fire,

And evermore be merry,

An old Norwegian law provided that any one who did not prepare several gallons of beer and a bushel of malt for Christmas festival bad to pay a penalty. A traveller writes of Norwegian cheer :: — •' Having taken our seats our work of demolition began. Fish, poultry, meat, cakes, pickles, preserves, and sauces went round and round again, considerable intervals being allowed for the singing of national songs, and for appropriate toasts." We may discover in all this gorging and swilling a lingering relic of old heathen customs, for the end of the year was a season for great feasting among the Scandinavians before Christianity supplanted the worship of Thox and Odin.

We all know how- Christmas is kept in old England ; how it s the season for the exercise of all kindly vutues. The poorest wretch somehow manages to scrape together a Christmas bite and sup.

Charity— cod enough, ordinarily, in the old country — expands for the nonce, and the starving are fed. the naked clothed. So also on the continent of Europe, where Christmas is kept in the integrity oE its spirits and significance. Hereaway in Australia, where the conditions of climate are reversed, and where we are in the middle of summer instead of winter, our method of celebrating Christmas is necessarily difficult. Pic-nic-ing is the rule, though there are plenty who keep holiday at home. But it matters little how the festival is celebrated so that its associations are preserved, and its spirit moves us to kindly thought and action. May this be so with our readers, so that they may, with honest conscience, fulfil old Tusker's admonition : — " At Christmas play, and make good cheer, For Christinas comes but once a year 1 "