GIBSON PEACOCK: Efhtw. VOLUME XXIII.-NO. 218. MERRY OREM& The'.'Cliiisilitaii Eiening . Bulletin ORIGINAL CHRISTMAS STORIES CHRISTMAS POEMS Historical Account of Christmas FUN FOR. CHRISTMAS CHOICE CHRISTMAS SKETCHES Cbristinas Beading for Everybody MATTER 'FOR GRAVE AND GAY ci[s~r~ts~. t:v ownoi: *lviEn-15438--1667. 130 now is come our joyful r 'st feast, , • L'W et every man jolly; Each room with ivy leaves la,clreat, And every post with holly. Though some dumb; at our mirth repine, ltonnd your foreheads garlands twine, I/ fowasorrowin 1 cup of wine, And let us all be merry. Now all our ueighhors' chimneys smolce, And Christmas bioekii are burning ;; Their they with hakettineat choke, And all their spits are turning, Without the dust let sorrow ho; And if for cold it bap to die, We'll bury't in a Chrlsimas'ple, And evermore be Merry. Now every lad is wondrous trim, And no man minds hislataar . ; Our ta.ss'es have provided th'em A bagpipe and a tabor ; Young men and maids and girls and boys; GiTo life to one another's Joys ;, And v'nutition'shall by their noise Foretive that they are merry. • I:ank misers now do sparingshuu; Their hall of =uric soundeth ;. And dogs thence with whole shoulders run, So all things there aboundetb.. The country folks themselves advance, With croway•runtlons out of France And Jack shall pips and Gill shall dance, And all the town be men-y. Ned Is'quash bath fetch his bands from pawn, And all his best apparel; Brisk Nell bath bought a ruff of lawn With dropping of the barrel. And those that hardly all the year ' Had bread to eat; or rugs to wear; Will have both clothes and dainty fare, And all the day be merry. Now postmen to the justices With capons make their errantp; And if they hap to fail of these, They pUgue them with their warrants. But now they feed them with good cheer, And what they want they take ill beer, For Christmas comes but once a year, And then they shall be merry. U oad farmer in the country nurse The poor, that else were undone; landlorks spend their money worse, On lust and pride at London. There the roysters they do pay, Drab and dice their lands away, Which may be ours another day, And therefore let's he merry. The client now his suit forbears. The prisoner's heart is eased ; The debtor drinks away his cares, And for the time is pleased. Though others' purses be more fat, Why should we pine, or grieve at that? flarg sorrow ! care will kill a cat, And therefore leis be merry. Hark! now the wags abroad do call, Eat% other forth to rambling; Anon you'll see them in the hall, For nuts and apples scrambling. Hark ! how the roots with laughter sound, Anon they'll think the house goes round, For they the collar's depth have fonnd, And there they will be merry. The wenches with their wassail howls About the streets are singing; The boys aie come"to catch the owls, The wild mare in is bringing. Our kitchen boy bath broke - his box, And to the dealing of the ox, Our honest neighbors come by flocks, And here they will be merry. Now kings and queens poor sheep coteshaye, • And mate with everybody; The honest now may play the knave, And wise men play fhe noddy. Some youths will now a mumming go, Some' others play at Rowland-bo, .And twenty other games boys mo, Becausp they will be merry. Then wherefore, in these merry days. Should we, I pray, be duller? ' IC o, let us sing some roundelays, To make our mirth the fuller ; And, while we thus inspiriid sing, I Let all the streets with echoes ring; Woods and hills and everything, Bear witness we are merry. ARCHIMEDES FISHER AND THE FAIRIES. A Nonsensical Christmas Narrative. NY JOHN QUILL. It seems necessary to hare a fairy story at Christmas time, and I have undertaken to write this one withi a firm determination to make it the very poorest fairy story that ever was written. Archimedes Fisher lived in those good old times when every boy of his age was taken in charge by a beneficent immortal spirit, which hovered around and pranced from the side scenes and came - up through the traps exactly - when it was desirable to have a supernatural being on the spot to enable a boy to do appo r entiv impossible things. Dui Archimedes Fisher was a practical youth, with no perceptible talent for the laity business, and as no member of the elfin frae ternity appeared to think it worth while to bother with Archimedes Fisher,he had rather .a mortifying time getting along by himself.., Even when he was a baby he seemed to hold , . . , ..!••• , ,„ •• • • , , t • t .t.. ,t „.. .. • , .•. • . . all the low earns. No fairy g.odmother . with, g.bitstuter Witigs'and.:Plak" ' , silks tights,; it'd- a' farm no longer than a patlor match, ever came btowsing, around Arcldineilfe Xieher's cradle, waving a • wand!vritha star otPttio cud of it, to' drive away the evil spitits which Would be llkeiy to annoy, young Mr. Finher. S o fat from thLs being th .case, if, was. ascer tained, by careful observers, that the only things which ever hovered over. .his, cradle Weis sn'arnieutvivicitiute flies,which sever- - ally and collectiveiy punctured the bald place . on the head of Archimedea Fisher, and did ample justice to the collation with which they' supplied themselvee ih thla inhuman, manners Nor was it observable when Archimedes Fisher grew larger that any benevolent sprite, With a glittering tiara upon her real alabaster brow,,came around, and.. took lain , out, and showedhim a• huge'' prim kin ' lying on the ground, and touched it with her magic rod, so that it was immediately transformed into a magnifieent golden coach, with six horsnseatid an obese driver, with four footmen behind, and lined all through with crimson velvet, so that he could just get into itanddriveup to the palace in magnificent style,and excite the envy and admiration of the noblemen and other bloated aristocrats. On the contrary, this disgraceful child,whent he had found a pumpkin,merely scooped it out, and scul ptured i a nose and a mouth and: two eyes in it, and illuminated it with a candle, and sprung it at his little sister Matilda, one dark night, no that she was scared into fits, and Archimedes' father locked him up in the smoke-house for a week, alone, with nis own reflections and an empty stomach. Mr. Fisher never had any satisfactory suc cess with these matters, apparently. For instance, when he fell front a tree and wrecked hiBants, s no niagniticent young creature from fa p iryland ever appeared in au entirely unaccountable manner, and touched him with her wand, and in an instant he found himself arrayed in gorgedus apparel of silk' and satin and spangles - aud pearls and dias roonds,-or witha feather several feetin length in his.cap, Not, by any, means. His mother 'simply eame at Min with the rolling-pin, 'and hit him three or !Our vigorous welts over the sconce, and like to have flogged the hide off of him before she put him to bed, and made . him lie there all day while she washed his faints and put a fresh patch on them, and re; placed the suspender-buttons. • Archimedes Fisher's forte certainly did not steal to be ability to indulge in supernatural tri UM pILS over t This was preyed very conelnisively, I think, at the time he was precipitated into the . creek and sank as rapidly as - the reputation of a Man who accepos a situation on The National Ittsfilgerneis: Now 'you would nattirellythink: that a beautiful and fascinating young mer maid, with long golden tresses waving about .her ivory shoulders, and a- magnificent form, With a glittering fish's tail to her, and .a voice full of melody: , ant sweet, Unearthly s music, would have seized him in her snow-white aims, kissed hint syithriter ruby lips, - and car: ' tied him down to her abode beneath the sea, where the houses were bililt Of gold, and the syinelows of diamonds . , and offered him untold mullions 'of specie, and pile* of precibus !Stones,' if he .would - marry hers (which, of coiirse, anybody would do under the circumstances). ;1 say you might reasonably have--supposed that this would have happened,and that have-supp osed Fisher, with commendable sagacity, - would have consolidated with that. bewilder ing mermaid, on the spot. But, strange to say, no such thing occurred. You would hardly believe it, but Mr. Fisher not only stran glerthimselfWithWater, but a degraded. Irish man, with Warm red hair, and not a solitary particle of sentiment in his nature, actually dragged that creek with a boat hook, and caught Archimedes Fisher by the trowsers, and brought him back to life, and hope, and influenza, and happinesB, and inflammatory rheumatism, and his mother's arms. • And they had to roll hint on a bench for an hour 6 get the water out of him, and then saturate him so completely with whisky that his parents were compelled to put a stamp on J him to keep him from being seized by the i Revenue Inspectors. It was remarkable how little luck Archi medes Fisher had in this fairy business. You know he never went meandering around, and heard that a beautiful princess was imprisoned by a cruel and 'objectionable giant, and mustered up his courage, and buckled - on his magic sword, and rode away on his supernatural charger, and went up, and killed the dragon that lay in his path, and thundered at the door of the giant's castle, when out rushed a bloodthirsty scalawag, twenty feet high, who was immediately at tacked by the impetuons and courageous Arch -1 imede.s Fisher,who smote o ff his preposterous I head with one blow, and then dashed into the castle, only to find the peerlessly lovely prin cess sitting in the dungeon, with her white hands clasped in utter despair, anti her back hair in scandalous disorder, because the dis gusting outcast of a giant wouldn't allow her rations of hair pins. And then he didn't lift her tenderly in his arme,and place her on a palfrey which happen ed to be standing opportunely outside by the Castle moat, and convey her to the king, her father, who said: "Bless you, . Archimedes Fisher ; Archimedes Fisher, bless you," and was so much overcome that he wept tears of joy and hugged - Arehiniedea - Fisher to his majestic bosom, and straightway married him to his daughter and made him Prime Minister of all his dominions, with the right to distri- bine post-ollices among his relations, and to sell gold short whenever he wanted to. I should think not: That kind of thing, I wish you distinctly to understand, was not in Mr. Fisher's style. He merely went to the giant's premises and climbed over the fence,and began to go for the giant's apples in a vigorous manner,Sind the princess, she saw him, and recognizedlim as a kleptomaniac, and went and told on him to the giant s who married her out of _gratitude, a short tune after he had gone down and hissed his dog on Archimedes Fisher, and collared him, and taken him up before the king, who committed him to jail for ninety slays for petty larceny. And while he was. there, instead of an ex quisite fairy all decorated in expensive clothes, and no bigger than your finger, burst ing in upon him, and waving her wand three times and causing the prison walls to fade away, as she bade him, come forth into the bright and beautiful sunshine, where the birds sang sweetly, carolling forth their de licious notes, and filling all nature with their melody—instead of this, the old wall-eyed matron, dressed in black bombazine,and with a snuffy, nose, limped in and cut off all his hair with a pair of shears, and set him to scrubbing the floor, with injunctions to be saving of the soap. Just so when he got out, and met another lovely princess riding along the road in her coach. She never once fell in love with him, and got out and spoke to him, and hand-in band walked down the long green lanes, amid the violets and primroses, and with all the air heav - ywith the rich fragrance of- the jasmine and clematis, and the limpid brook rippling past in measured cadence. On the contrary, the princess was not at tracted by his appearance, and naturally se, for he was freckled and had blisters on his nose, and his shirt gave evidence of his want of proximity togodliness, and she merely cuffed him over the head, and told him to ," get out," and he eventually married a girl out of the poor-house, and, as no fairy was ever around to give him the power to find a fresh piece of money in his pocicet every tiese he put his hand in it, he got so perfectly po verty-stricken that. he had to take his bride back to the poor-house a short time after the wedding, and he hued there until he choked to death one day upon a .plug of corned beef, which he was trying to swallow. In fact, taking everything intoconsidera tion, we may, lay it down as a general proposi tion, that Archimedes _Fisher's ventures in fairy undertakings were disgraceful failures,— just such disgraceful failures as this story is. iti.g4.Apo,Lr4l4,'*:so4T*so:W i i)g . qpipt.i3,: . ,l2 . . l 1519..-:- . --T1:01,0. : ' 4,F*1f;'1..,,,::,!:;,.-; APIE XiIMM*I Y' feggee, faire maydes andermerrie menney telle ane wondrousse tayle— • Butte'fyrete, methynks, thatte I Wolde drynke Ye bruytthe, bye byttere ate.:' Graromercie, putts ye Yule-logge onne ; ' Ye nyghte ya eolde wythoutte— Butte tyrste my lyppe wolde sothely syppe ,Ye Browne, hysjollye stoute. :Thys tayle,l:telle, ys purlonse strange Arnie nerwe to eerie orre , kyngge— - - Butte tyrst uppe my pewterre cuppe ,Fulle wythe ye gynne, hys slyngge. • Dryye. - worke ytte yik toe telle ane tayle, • Wythoutten tuxne orre tryppe—. But fyrBt I wys lwerreuotte ane-mysse, :To trye ye eggs, bys flyppe. Ye t3mytthe hys Were they broughten hym, Ye Browne bysjollye stout°, Ye more be slued ye Jesse he knewed Of whatte ue.wasseaboute. • • • Ye egge bys flyppe they broughte alsoe Ande eke ye gynne hp; slyngge, But ere lwasse coole thys selye fool Wasse tyghte ass° ane-a-thynge. [Written for the Ohrietintst Number of the Philo Evening Bulletin.] THE FATE OF JOE anstrisNlS. A WarOtos to Mothers. This horrible' tale•was related to me by - Archibald Haggerty,. the young 'gentleman. who blacks my boots: • ' " Mr. Quill, you see .toe 3icGinnis and me and a lot of us fellers was a' playie marvOls , down to Pine street wharf one , day, and:Joel McGinnis bad no luck. He blowed .on his alley and said conjurin' over it, and spit on it, and said len but iwEelit no mid, for tis fellers won his commoners, and his bO's eye,.and his glass agate, and his-white alleys, nntil Joe jilt busted out a cryin' and went and sot down> on a board and rubbed his fists into his eyes like he was tryin' , to gonge ?em. ,- And :us ,fellers we didn't pay„no , 'teutibu to Joe Mepi lints , and we went on a playin' and a playin', and never Saw . that Joe had gone and sot down on A plaCe. where Some Teller had'heen' a • shiinfin' this yer nitrceglycerine.- And that there Safi; you know, Mr. Quill, it had been and leaked out all over that .there hoard on which Joe McGinnis was a settin', and the fast thing Joe McGinnis knowed hi o 's pants.was soaked with nitro-glYceiine, likehe had sot'ileiwn in the river. Yes, it was. And Joe McGinnis when hp felt it a gittin' damp he pranced home, awl. thought he'd dry them pants of his'n . by 'the ' stove. But, you • know, old, Mrs.: Blektrinis. When she seed Joe she was mad as fury, andsheltist rose right vii and snorted r " I say, you Joe, you outrageous willin, where've you bin with them there pants ?', "And then , old Mrs:McGill s site just made a 'rush for Joe, Mr. Quill, and she grabbed a holt of Joe, and lay him acrost her lap this here way, you know. Then she lifted up that there number sixteen list of hem, intendin' to spank Joe McGinnis like sin. But when she struck that nitro-glycerine, Mr. Quill, wasn't there a regular bustin' out of things ! Jo-ru sa-lem ! I guess so! There was a kind of a grumble and a roar, and a rarin', tarin', thunder and lightnin' explosion, and then about thirty billion earthquakes all run into one, and old Joe McGinnii was blowed through the winder ; and the door; and the tire-place, in little bits of chunks 'bout the size of a marvel, and he never knowed what ailed him, while Mrs. McGinnis went a pitchin' through the cell' n'and the garret about ten thou sand miles, along with chairs and stove-pipe, and pans and tom-cats, and soup-tnreens and one thing another; and she never come down again, ,Vie didn't. And that was what ailed Joe McGinnis and Mrs. Mc Ginnis;as sure as you're born. And now, Mr. Quill, couldn't you give a feller a quarter for Christmas?" It tra a sad fate, that of young Joseph Mc- Ginnis ; and what a solemn warning it con veys to mothers ! How careful should every parent be to examine her child's trousers with chemical tests for nitro-glycerine be fore inflicting punishment ! Let mothers lay this lesson to heart,and resolve hereafter to ex ercise loving vigilance lest they, too, should perish as this wretched Mrs. McGinnis did, without a chance to get off any last words. THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL. An Interesting Historical Sketch. The institution of the Christmas festival is attributed by the spurious Decretals to Tele sphorus, who flourished in the reign of Ante /luaus Pius (138-161 A. - D.), but the first certain traces of it are found about- the time of the Emperor Commodus, (180-192 A. D.) In the reign of Diocletian (..4-305 A. D.), while that ruler was keeping court at Nicomedia, he learned that.a multitude of Christians were assembled in the city to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, and having ordered the church-doors to be closed, he set tire to the building, and all the worshippers perished in the flames. It does not appear, however, that there was any uniformity in the period of observing the nativity among the early churches ; some held the festival in the month of May or April, others in January. It is, nevertheless, almost certain that the 25th of December cannot be the nativity of the Saviour, for it is then the height of the rainy season in -Judea, and shep herds could hardly be watching their flocks by night in the plains. Christmas not only became the parent of many later festivals, such as those . of the Vir gin, lnit especially from, the sth to the Bth century, gathered round it, as it were, several other festivals, partly old and partly new, so that what may be termed a eh/lamas Cycle sprang up which surpassed all other groups of Christian holidays in the manifold richness of its festal usages, and furthered, more than any other, the completion of the orderly and systematic distribution of church festivals over the whole year. Not casually or arbitrarily was the festival of the Nativity celebrated on the 25th of December. Among the causes -- that cooperated - in_ fixing this period as the proper one, perhapstlthe most powerful was, that almost all the heathen nations regarded the winter-solstice as a most important point of the year, as the beginning of the renewed he and activity of the powers of nature, and of the gods, who were originally merely the sym bolical personifications of these. In more northerly countries, this fact must have made itself peculiarly palpable—hence the Celts and Germans, from the oldest times, celebrated the season with the greatest festivities. At the winter-solstice, the Germans held their great Yule-feast in commemoration of the fiery sun-wheel; and believed that, during the twelve nights reaching from the 25th of December to the 6th of January, they could trace the personal movements and interfer ences on earth of their great deities, Odin, Berchta, &c. Many of the beliefs and usages of the old Germans, and also of the Romans, relating: to this matter, passed over from heathenism to • ; 'OUR' WHOLE COUNTRY. ItY ANN OLD nbifo; BY JOILN QUILb. Christianity,. and ,'have partly survived 't; the present day. ' But the Chttroh also ' ught to combat and banish—and it was to a large extent successfal—the deep-rooted ,heathen feeling * by adding * far • the purifica tion of the heathen customs and feasts which it retained, its liturgy, besides dragtatic repre- Sentations of the birth of Christ and the first events of his life. Hence sprang the so-called ~M anger-songs," and a multitude of Christmas 'carols, as well as. Christmas dramas, which, at certain times and places, degenerated' into - farees or fools' festivals. Hence, also , origi mated,. at a later period, the Ohrist-trees, or 'Christmas-trees, adorned with lights and gifts, ''the custom Of reciprocal presents, and of special Christmas meats and - dishes, such as Christmas rolls, cakes, currant-loaves, dump lings, &c. Thus Christmas became •a uni versal social festival for young and old, high 'and low, as no other Christian festival could have 'become. . In the Roman Catholic Church, three masses are performed at Christmas—one at ' midnight, one at daybreak, and one in the , morning. The day is also celebrated 'by the Episcopal Church ; special psalms are sung ; a special preface is made in the Comniunion service, and in England the Athanasian Creed is said and sung. The Lutheran Church like-- wise observes Christmas ; halt most other de nominations reject it, in-its religious aspect, as a "human invention," 'and as "savoring of pa pistical although everybody keeps it as a social holiday, on which there is a complete cessation from all business. Tint within the last-hundred years, the festivities 'once appropriate to Christmas have much fallen off. In England these at one time lasted with more - or less brilliancy till Candle mas, and - with great spirit till Twelfth-day; but now, a meeting •in the evening, composed, 'when possible, of the various branches and members of a family, is all that distinguishes the day above others, • "GOOD TIDINGS." Good tidings! Good tidings! Ring out, 0 Christmas bells ! The old familiar music still O'er hill and lowland swells; Go twine with ivy leaves and bay The holly's coral gem, And welcome, Christian hearts, to-day, The Babe of Bethlehem. Good tidings ! Good tidings ! It is the selfsame strain That once the holy angels sang To shepherds on the Tilain; A song which brings the weary rest, And comforts those that mourn; The ancient anthem, ever blest— "To vs a Child is born." Good tidings ! Good tidings ! The world is old and sad; We need the blebsed Christmas-tide To make us young and glad ! To darkened eyes who saw through tears Their earth-lights pale and die, This holy radiance appears— " The day-spring from on high." Goodlidings ! Good tidings! 0 meek and lowly King! Teach every faithful heart this day Thy praise aright to sing; Teach us to do Thy deeds of love, • Thy precious seed to sow; ' As angels work for Thee above, So let us work below. Good tidings! Good tidings! The music shall not cease He came to guide our wayward feet Into the way of peace : Chime, tuneful bells, and loudly ring To hail the Christmas morn ; Awake, all Christian souls, and sing-- " To us a Child is born." CHRISTMAS BOXES. 111atory of an Old English Custom. Christmas-box is the name - given in England to a area money-gift to persons in an interior condition on the Gay after Christmas, which is hence called Bovinq-day. The term, and also the custom,are essentially English, though the making of presents at this season and at the New I ear is of great antiquity, Within the memory of middle-aged persons in England the practice of giving • (3hristmas-boxes or pretty presents to apprentices, domestic servants and tradesmen, had become a serious social nuisance, more particularly in London, where every old custom seems to linger and is most difficult to be got rid of. Householders felt under an obligation to give money to the apprentices in the shops where they dealt,also to various inferior parish officers, including scavengers and lamp-lighters ; while shop keepers, on the other hand, were equally im pelled to make presents to the male and fe male servants of their customers. Thus, as referred to in Christmas, a poem: Gladly the boy. with Christmas Box in hand Throughout the town his devious route pur sues; And of his master's customers implores The yearly mite : often his cash he shakes ; The which, perchance, of coppers, few con sists, Whose dulcet jingle fills his little soul With joy At length the Christmas. Box system benamg such an intolerable Arievance that tradesmen stuck up notices -in their windows that no Christmas Boxes would be given, and at the same time the public authorities issued re monstrances to the same effect. At Christ mas,lB36, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs issued a circular to the differ ent embassies, requesting a discontinuance of the customary gifts to the messengers of the Foreign Department and other government servants. Since this period the practice has greatly decreased, doubtless to the improve ment of the self-respect of the parties inter ested. In this country it has never prevalied in such a shape as that mentioned above, Christmas presents being given nearly ex elusively in families and among friends. CURL MAN CAROLS. The word carol (Italian carola, and French carole, a round dance—probably from the Latin corolla; Welsh coroli,‘ to reel, is dance; the name is thence applied to the music or song accompanying such a dance: carillon is probably allied,) signifies a song of joy. The practice of singing carols, or, at all events, music, in celebration of the nativity of Christ as early as the second century, is considered as proved by the circumstance that a large sarcophagus, belonging to that period, has sculptured upon it a representation of a Chris tian family joining in choral praise for this purpose. A century or two after this, how ever, the Christmas Carols seem to have sadly degenerated, and becaine, in fact, so indecent, that the clergy found it necessary to forbid them. Under the Anglo-Saxon kinrs, o merri inent and piety were quietly combined in English life, a peculiarity that affected the Christmas Carols of that period not a little; but by the thirteenth century the jocosity had unhappily lapsed into what would now be considered profanity. The oldest printed collection of English Christmas Carols bears the date of 1521. The ma jority of these, though written by men of learning—priests and teachers—exhibit a la mentable ignorance of the character of the two most prominent persons in the carols— Mary and Jesus. In 1525 was kept the "still Christmas," on account of the illness of King Henry; but with this exception, the sacred season appears to have been regularly cele brated with joyous music and songs during the Tudor period. In 1.462 Christmas Carols of a more solemn nature were introduced. By the Puritan Parliament Christmas was abolished altogether, and holly and ivy, were made sedi tious badges ; and in 1630 the Psalms, ar ranged as carols, were advertised. After the Restoration the' Christmas Carols again ex, hibited alearty, cheerful, and 'eyon 'a jovia character, Those with which; the dacha' 'of fs ntwannotentett, in England are generally religious, though'not tuilVertially 40. in France the carols at this sesson used to 'be much less sacred than gay. - Often; indeed,, they were grossly bacchanalian. ' " TUE ' ET* OF THE Keen and cold the night wind hlom Drifting o'er the moor the 'now I ; Bar the doom—the windows close. the Christmas taper bright, ' By the Yule-log's picketing. light Vigil we will keep to-night. 'Tis..a night orsolernn thought Of that wondrous love that brought Christ into the manger-cot. Of the - sin-stained world that lay In death's shadow till the ray, God-born, chased the shades &Way ; Of that Light , whose beams divine ' On that darknesS then did shine Which comiirehended not the sign" . A long,"deeP night from Adam's fall; • Through Noah's timid and Abraham's call, Draping the world as with a pall; A long, deep night; With scarce a gleam,' . of light from prophet's tongue, or dream, To pierce the darknees With a beam. So, through the lone night,:Jesii dear, Watch We fill Thou Shalt appear," .* Every longing heart to cheer.. Watch we as open that The shepherds watched, and. in affright Beheld God's . glory shinnig,bright. And in prayers shall pass the time, Till the - holy midnight chime !Ushers in the morn sublime. ' Till the belle; with joyous peal, To wondering earth the news reveal, Christ is come to save and heal r' Then, as the sweetsounds float along, We'll think upon that old-world song Chanted by the angel throng:— . "To God on' high all glory, be Peace on earth, and charity Unto all 'humanity." So bath it been from time of yore,' ' So may it be till time is o'er, And Christ shall reign for evermore [For the Christnaas Ngne n r u ci e f ti f i h r Philadelphia Even 808 CAILVVILERS' REVENGE.; A Story for Christmas Time. 81 .yorrs (war; It was rough on Bob Caruthers. Every- body said it - was. The squire, the minister, the cackling old ladies at the sewing -bee, the butcher, the grocery-man, the baker,the milk man, the members-of the Euterpean Associa tion—in fact,all the prominent people in Dan vilie, admitted that -the treatment -which Bob Caruthers - bad recei . Ved from Sally Harkins was the roughest that had ever been inflicted upon a mortal young man by a good-looking girl. The whole story was as follows : In May Miss Harkins had arrived in Danville, fresh from a winter's dissipation in Philadelphia, where her parents resided. It was whispered about Danville that she was sent to the village to remain with her Unale Dobbins (who was in the coal-mining interest), in order to sepa rate her from a gentle youth who had made a deep impression upon her at home. But this was merely a rurnor,whichseemed to be denied by the gayety and light-heartedness of the fair maiden herself. At any rate,it did not deter Mr. Caruthers from falling in love with her after - a very brief acquaintance, and showing her that devoted attention which is the customary method of expressingsuch a tender passion. Sally received these little demonstrations as if she liked them ; and although Mr. Caruthers never could get his courage quite up to the point of declaration, be did not entertain a single doubt of her devotion to him. Night after night he took her to concerts, and lec tures, anti singing•school, and sociables, dan cing and singing with her, and walking home with her in the moonlight and the starlight, with his heart knocking at his ribs as if ,it was bent on fracturing them, and his soul so full of tender fear that, he could talk of nothing but the most absurdly comnionpiace and prosy subjects. Of course Mr. Caruthers behaved very fool ishly. He could not reasonably expect that girl to waltz around the country with him for ever, without having an understanding, par ticularly when the whole town talked about it, and declared that, without the shadow of a doubt, Robert Caruthers and Sarah Harkins had agreed upon consolidation. By no man ner of means ; and Mr. Caruthers, therefore, had no right to complain when Mr. Dulcitt, the new singing -master, shortly after his ar rival in the town, began to trespass on Bob's bailiwick, and engage an unpleasantly large share of Miss Harkins's time and attention. Mr. Dulcitt was a mild young man, with ght hair, and weak eyes which were pro- tected by spectacles. He had a room at 31. rs. eg,onegal's, where he used to practice upon the flute until the other boarders would rage and tear up and down the entries, and consign Dulcitt and his flute to a place which Dulcitt, we sincerely hope, will never reach, and where a flute, under any circumstances, would be entirely useless. But Di lcitt's strong point was.vocalism. He could sing with such tremendous power that people wondered how he contrived to get so great a volume out of so small a body; and a rumor spread about that his legs were hollow, and constructed like organ pipes, while he carried bellows in his boots. However, he was a good singer—there was no manner of doubt about that; and when he stood up in front of his large class in the town hall, anti led thejn- through some spirited Chorus, he created so . nanch.enthusiasin for himself that girl present regarded hint as the most interesting young man iu Danville, and Bob Caruthers cowered, in the back part of the room, so mad that he ,could hardly help the chorus along with that bass voice of his,which sounded like a large coffee-mill in rapidaction. But his anger was mere godd humor at such times to the ferocious rage with which he re garded the mild-eyed Dulcitt when he de scended from the platform and beamed through ; his spectacles upon Sarah,as he offered her his arm and swept her past poor old Bob, without even a glance at his rival. To make matters worse, everbody in the class 'undoistood the situation; and all eyes were turned upon Bob, o see how he would bear it Everybody thoughtit was rough. The young adies thought so, because Mr, Dulcitt had not eho6en them, in tead of that"stnek-up thing." •:, PO r itrs :PAM' • . ,ditt= TheYhting geilifertiett:ekpxesAit - theniSelvei j '' , witii i .equal steollfith, beeautie eidh Man istahid' a.,', '. ' ,•,1 private oplopinion s hat each coatiud'aa that'.ot ~`' •• .ii Miesrkitui w as wholly tutjtistifiibie;nriteea' ' lie was 'the individual'" for. whom Bob bad ' ''... been forialtett. ` ' ' ' ' " One cold_night in December; the 'guterpeie Associatiti met to practice seine musicfor' a concert; Which was to be giienl , n the ball ea ' '' I .'''• ,Ohriistatis Eye. , , After the rehearsal,,Duiaitt, ''' 'l and Bally went away arm-in-arm as usual. Bole decided to follow; them, and in his desPeratiot, topitinge intd old Debbite's honse after Duleitt. '' ; ''' had taken leave - of Sally 'on the stePtl, and te ,prePOse to his fair deluder that very MOO; ito ; 3 'matter how 'black the prospect see Med. ' He I k r ...t l , lived next door to Dobbins, and 86; outtiiii 4 ,: . his hat firmly on hie head, lie left the ' hall iad4 ''.' darted around throngh a back street, so ' that' ~,-; ,',6 he might reach home before Duicitt and Sally : 2 . 'wP • • • • - As he entered the gate of 'hie front yardiii tl kt..,, and sat down in the darkness of the poreh, ha, saw them corning slowly down the street., - • ,, t His dog ran up to him and began' to "caper ' ~,i,..,: .$1 about and bark; but Bob forced biro tO ilea `',._ down beside Writ and keep quiet', while Itia ' ` ; iii•l rival approached with his 'enslaver. They c'' `'.f came Very - deliberately and`passed by, Oa- '• . •'•4 .., t, versiug in such soft tones that the wretched ..i . •_'.. Bob could not' undenitand a . word. i They '• '', l 4 reached old' Dobbins's steps. '.l;itilcitt 'Stood '',' - if ; and talked for avridle, 'Bob ill tlatinie shivoi-;' ) , 'Ai ing with cold and impatient forldedeParturei :;) but after some little parleYntileittiiattin. Bob' 4 ' % eartitherS groaned 'alond, ' and I then; 'Aft* ! I : giving his dog a kick that Sent Min IMilink '''' away behind the 'house, Bob cleared the fence ''- • at a bound, and was in Debbins's yard in an instant. . ' " . ' ' Old Dobbin s had his sittingtoont - ixl . the , • , 1 seedfid story, and jUst as Bob got beneath the .'., Window, the lamp was lighted and Sally ' ' 'appeared, taking off her bonnet. There Wait a • ',"i tree , by the window, and as Bob glanced at it ' i his, mind was made up. lie decided'to 'daintier; ~ into the branches, so that he, might look Witti - 1 his own eyes uponthe - perfidy Of . the woman to whom he had given his love: Aftdr aSeri&t''' of diflicult gymnasti6, in which he'to re' hi* r . ~# .coat and knoCked the akin Ott of big halide, ha' '. 4 , reached a place from which be could peer into' ,:' if the room. YOB, there was Sally, sitting in ~ ' .' front of the fire, and Dukitt by her'side; with' his arm on'the back of her chair with kiii,, -• ' ' 4 , glasses turned =frill _ upon her, and his' Aida ' , t . eyes gazing at her, just as Bobs used to gaze,,, . -• Bob Carnthere felt Ins •heitt eh* within hiita ', at this spectacle, but imideterMined" tosit'on ; ~,, that limb all night if iiwas necessary, it .:•1' order to see all thailiappened, and to, ascot' tarn precisely how mattersstood. Sallyresolution, came to • the windoiv and pulled downthe - bliiiii. , ',. "It's of no use," said Bob; i n desPair • and he _ , _ began to descend the tree, When the kitchen door opened and somebody came out. It was' so dark that Bob could only distinguish sir figure; but he knew from the voice that it wan old Dobbins. Old Dobbins went to thewood., pile and collected a few chips, whistling mean. while to a large' dog that accompanied him. Bob had heard Dobbins express his detertni. nation to procure a dog to prevent thefts from that identical wood-pile. Doubtless thin was the very animal. " But the best thing for me to do will be tor , keep quiet until old Dobbins goes in," said, Bob. To his horror, however, he saw dimly the' figure of the nog smelling around, 'until it ran up to the tree, when it begun to bark vecire rously. Bob thought then he would. certainly' be discovered. But no ; strange to Say,liPolt bins entered the house and closed the doer, leaving his dog outside beneath the tree. After a few more barks the misguided animal lay down, and seemed determined to make a. ' night of it. Mr. Caruthers, from his cool and lofty perch, regarded the indistinct black figure betteade him with anguish. " Good gracious," he said, "suppose the confounded brute should stay' there all night!" Then be thought he would wait until the dog got to sleep, anti creep gently down without waking him. Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes passed, with ' Bob blowing the fingers of one hand , with the other he balanced himself on the limb. ,He began to descend. Bqt at the very first motion the dog leaped up and began' • barking again. He tried tlAi experiment a second time, and just as the ferocious brute stretched himself upon the ground, after another demonstration, Bob caught sight of • two shadows kissing each other upon the . blind.. Then the light was turned out, and presently be heard the front door open, and saw • Dulcitt dance along beneath the street lamp, as if be were practicing a fandango. It occurred to the unfortunate Mr. Carn thers to call to .him.. . " But, no!" ejaculated Bob; "I will freeze into solid ice first ; hang ; me if I don't!" and he stamped on the limb so violently that it roused the dog,who barked savagely. " Let us try what kindness will do," said Mr. ,Caruthers, making that peculiar noise which resembles the sound of kissing—a noise which ' is supposed to soothe a dog, but which can not be written. "Poor fellow! poor old dog! come here, poor fellow!" (Kissing noise again ; then a whistle.) But the dog barked more vociferously than ever, and pranced around that tree as if the only boon he wanted in this life was a chance to bite a chop from Mr. Caruthers' leg. " Here Pont ! here old fellow r (kisSing noise again)—come here old dog! kere,poor fellow! here Jack !" More violent demonstrations of blood thirstiness on the part of the now frantic anima). "Here Jack! Here! Rats! rats! rate! ketch 'ern, Jack !" exclaimed Mr. Caruthers„ with the ingenuity of despair. Rats were not the game wanted at that moment, apparently, by "Jack." Meditation upon the succulency of Mr. Caruthers' calf seemed to have filled him with frenzy, for he capered and howled, and howled and ,capered worse than ever. "Lie down, sir:" said Bob, trying a new plan; " lie down, sir! keep quiet ! go home! go home, I teH you!" and he descended two -; or three feet, upon the tree. This seethed to 1 , make the animal more outrageous, .h0w.,.. he leaped up the trunk and tried his very beet to get oven a nip at Mr. Canithers's barking all the time as if:he pad beeh wound ' up and his iocal apparatus *e.s:kept going '. with .a spring. • ' So Bob climbed back to , the moist comfortable place he. could ftud,:reluetautly convinced that he would brie to icKtkeh night ofit: ,Lf , seated ki.t4Otistkide c•(a limb, Wit/043)4dr. .1 4 r:1 . . 74 • .; „ , ,1 • .; , ot'rjl' •grf 41 , ' Y'r 1 r '4 ,. ; , ':i , '.', , !.k• . ....' , .` , ::::" . .;' , :.':- , IMM ~'4..y,;'.~ ~.,i 1~ ~ ~~. 1 4~''Ml. ':f
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