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4 (1204) THE
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VHIVIO X XUAO,
D. Everett (Jarmichael.
Oh bright and clear the Btar that shone above
flhe laiiu of Palestine tuat Christinas night
Guiding the sages> with its silvery light
Unto the sacred shrine of life and love.
Oh sweet and low the song that hoated o'er
Those eastern hills, borne on the crystal air;
And sweet the message to the hear.: of care,
"reace and Good-win to men forever more!"
The star has vanished Iroui the spangled dome,
The last sweet echo of the song is still.
But He whose birth they heralded, a King
Now reigns, and we our humble offerings bring,
And on love's altar lay them. He who will
May serve?nor talter till the welcome home.?Ex.
THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS.
The Spirit of Advent Deeply Engraven in Art
And Literature and History.
BY THE REV. DAVID JAME; BURREL.L, D. D., IN
NEW YORK OBSERVER.
The holidays were at hand and the school
children were rehearsing for their festival. A
little lass had chosen to recite the ""Wreck of
the Hesperus." All went well until these
words were reached:
"And she thought of Christ, who stilled the
wave
On the Lake of Galilee."
At this point the teacher, who was a Jewess,
remarked, "You may omit that," and omitted
it had to be.
If the name of Christ were thus eliminated
from the instruction in all our public schools
it would still remain in the children's lives.
Christmas is in the air and everybody breathes
it. Christmas is in the chiming of the bells.
Christmas is in our homes, in our streets, in
our churches, in our shop windows. The spirit
of the Advent has traversed the world, and it
has come to stay. Wherefore, a Merry Christm
ac tn tho lit+lo nonr?lo nnrl tr> nil
The name might be cut out of "The Wreck
of the Hesperus," but it could not be erased
from Chaucer and Milton and Shakespeare and
Pope; from Burns and Browning and Bryant.
It could not be struck out of Burke and Chatham,
Bacon and John Locke, Addison and
Johnson, Swift and Butler, Hugh Miller and
Dana and Agassiz. It could not be removed
from the writings of Bunyan and De Foe and
Goldsmith, and Scott and Dickens and Thack
eray. It is intricately interwoven with the very
warp and woof of that entire wealth of literature
which is the glory of the English tongue
You might strip the walls of their Ecce
Homos and Madonnas, but you could not cut
the Manger and the Cross and the Open Sepulchre
out of the immortal work of Murillo and
Rubens and Rembrandt and Corregio and litian
and Giotto and Guido and Carlo Dolci and
Da Vinci and Donatello, or out of the sculptures
of Michael Angelo and Canova and Thorwaldsen.
You might rule out a Christian cantata or
an oratorio here and there, but you could not
hush the tone-masters, Haydn and Handel and
Mozart and Medelssohn and Wagner, whose
praises of Christ will continue so long as there
are singing birds among the trees. The art
and science and literature of the world are irradiated
by his influence. Quench a rush-light,
here and there, if you insist upon it, or crush
a glow-worm with your foot, but what about
the sunt
The all-pervading influence of Christ is
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE Si
leadings
manifest on every hand. The shopkeepers in
the Ghetto may nail the Mesusa on their doors,
write "Kosher" on their windows, and bind
the Shema as frontlets between their eyes, it
will still remain that they are indebted for
their industrial privileges to the influence of
Christ.
In the Metropolitan Museum of Art there
is a picture by L'Hermitte called "Among the
Lowly." A man of singularly beautiful and
benign countenance stands, with hands uplifted
in blessing, at the table of a peasant's family.
In the door stands the head of the household,
who has just returned from his day's labor,
holding in his arms his youngest child, who
has evidently run out to meet him. On seeing
the Man at the table, he uncovers and stands
in an attitude of devotion. In view of what
the Carpenter of Nazareth has done for the
workman and his household, this should be the
posture of the handicraftsman of the world
today.
Nor can the name of Christ be obliterated in
our national life. To say that we are a Christian
nation is only to emphasize a fact which
i? i i.Ji- J ? ...
nas uccu icpeuieuiy determined in our nignest
courts. The picture of Columbus planting the
red cross banner on the newly discovered soil
and christening it "Land of the Saviour" cannot
be erased. No more can that of the Pilgrims,
bending the knee at Plymouth Rock
to dedicate the colony to Christ; or that of
Washington kneeling at Valley Forge to entreat
the Christ whom he served for victory in
a war against hopeless odds. * * * These
are pictures graven on the granite walls of our
national oratory too deply to permit the
thought that any combination of Christless men
can ever cut them out.
The legend "In God We Trust" might be
omitted from our coinage, but the memory of
the lurid days when we placed it there is ineradicable.
"The liberty wherewith the Son
makes free" is in our laws, in the preamble of
our Declaration of Independence, in the warp
and woof of our Constitution and everywhere
in our public life; so much so that no candidate
for the Presidency of this republic would, for
a moment, be counted eligible were it known
or suspected that his convictions were not in
sincere accord with the teachings of Christ.
We use the Christian calendar. Not long
ago in one of our schools the lesson of the day
was on the assassination of Caesar, which occurred
44 B. C. One of the pupils asked,
"Teacher, what do these letters meant" The
only answer possible was "Before Christ."
But, on being further asked what that meant,
the teacher, being a Jewess, was at her wits'
end. A little later the lesson was the overthrow
of Jerusalem by Titus, which happened
in 70 A. D. "Teacher, what do these letters
mean?" Again the answer must be, "In the
year of our Lord." But when asked, "What
Lord was that?" again the teacher was at a
loss to explain it.
A Jewish merchant cannot sign a promissory
note without paying tribute to Christ. A Jewish
maid cannot indite a letter to her sweetheart
without paying tribute to Christ in the
same way. The teacher who forbade her pupil
to mention the name of Christ in the "Wreck
of the Hesperus" could not sign the report of
??:i ?:*i ? * '
tuat pupn wiuuuut paying iriDuie to unrist
when she dated it.
No, the world has moved too far. The protest
comes too late. "The Stone that the build
#
0 U T H [December 20, 1911
ars rejected has become the head stone of the
corner." The Name is so impressed on progress
and the history of the world that nothing
can erase it. Let us borrow no trouble, but
make merry because the Christ of Christmas
lias come to stay in this world of ours. The
song of the Advent is the increasing chorus of
the ages.
CHRISTMAS WISDOM. M
By Mary Mason Wright.
Never give a gift out of policy.
Do your Christmas shopping early.
Give simple gifts to those outside of the family.
Never spend more on gifts than you can afford.
Don't leave common-sense out of your gift-giving.
Let cheer and gladness rule in this joyous season.
Give gracefully, graciously, intelligently and
honestly.
Remember the poor and lonely at this joyour
season.
Do as you would be done by, and not as you are
done by.
Let the children have a part in the Christmas
preparations.
Children should be taught to give gifts as an
expression of love.
Never send out a gift without a card or some
means of identification.
Let it be a blossoming time of all that is most
unselfish, lovely and generous.
Do not exalt Santa Claug above him whose birthday
we celebrate on this day.
If you carry a sad heart on this day. do not let
it mar the happiness of others.
Individual character never shows itself more plain,
ly than in the making and receiving of gifts.
Never give shoddy or showy gifts, dainty gifts
show a refined and delicate personality.
A gift need not be expensive to be prized; anything
ardently longed for is sure to bring happiness.
Decorate the home and table, thus making the
dav otnnri nut no n nlennnnt nlntnrA in thn m#mnr?
Let your gifts bear convincing testimony of a
thoughtfulness that can only be the result of genuine
regaid.
To accept a gift, whether acceptable or not, with
gracious sweetness is an accomplishment worth cultivating.
If you give money to the poor and needy, give it
in some novel manner, s0 that the sting of charity
may be wanting.
Always plan to have a .Christmas gift reach its
destination on Christmas eve or Christmas day; but
better early than late.
Emerson sayB, "lhe gift, to be true, must be the
flowing of the giver unto me. correspondent to my
flowing unto him."
If tbere is an empty chair in the home on this
day, Bhow your faith in life eternal by wreathing it
with evergreens.
"The true keeping of Christmas is the realization
of the great love that brougct us salvation and left
us the example of a divine life."
Give everything in a Christmas-like manner. No
matter how practical the gift, do it up daintily, and
tuck a bit ol holly under the ribbon.
'When opening the magic-box for those poorer than
yourself rememoer to do it in such a cordial, light
hearted way, that the pleasure seems all yours
Do not forget the beauty of flowers as a gift. A
singie rose, a blooming bulb, or a pot of bright
geianiums may speak a word of hope and courage
that nothing else would do.
A cheery word, a sympathetic glance, a merry
greeting, a helpful letter, may possess more intrinsic
worth to the recipient than the most costly gift given
out of a sense of duty.?Ex.
Devotion inspires men with sentiments of religious
gratitude, and swells their hearts with
inward transports of joy and exultation.?
Addison.
The study of opportunities belongs quite naturally
to the seasons which mark for us the
progress of our lives. There are days in busi
ness for taking account of stock, there are times
in living when we look backward in order that
we may plan to go forward. We ought to accomplish
more for God this year than we have
ever done. We need to make wise plans for use
of time and increase of influence. But most and
first we ought to fill our hearts with the enthusiasm
of devotion to the heavenly Father, who
has made us trusted companions of his life and
work. In the deepening of that sense of gratitude
and love, we shall have our best assurance
of attainment both in character and service
through the changes of the year.?Congregationalist.