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Boetoxf letter: How wallow in the modern palate and how degenerated mam". organs of the modern epi- cure compared with of the mighty when who graced e festive hood! 9! old. ‘ The chiatmas dinner de rescuer now consists of roast beef, turkey, perhaps venison. vegetables and a little pastry. Wine may or may not play a part in the economy of the table, and the die- aipation oi antuter dinner cigar may round oi! what we would consider a reg- ular Christmas banquet Of , course pump 11 pie, mince pie and plum pud- ding very essential features of the mode holiday meal. - Thi is the modern evolution of the Yuletide [east which our forefathers were ‘wont to stretch out over the good- ly tenure of twelve days. The boat’s head plays a very small part at the modern Christmas table. but in the old time English and German celebrations it figured as the principal dish. ' '7 t-â€".: Iva-inc I that levels of Our Saxon Forehan- enâ€"Varioun Dilhn and Vanda Which They Used. in CHRISTMAS CHEER dish." The old English drank heavily at ”their Christmas feast which often sa- vored little of piety. They drank their ‘ eras. ale, mead and claret, Celf‘m ibnung the holiday with great festiviâ€" As Iago says: “Your Dane. Your Ger- man. and good wagâ€"bellied Hollander, are nothing to your English.” ' _ ' The talent was probably inherited mm the Saxon; tor than: kings had ,vine. mend. cider. .aie, :pigment' nd morat to w h the, Normans ad ed ciaret. garhl‘ filac and hippocras. Morat was made from honey and mulberries; claret. pigmént, hippocms and garhloâ€" the (Emailed from the girofle or cloves contained in it) were different grammtions of Wine mixed with honey Ind spices. Hinpocras was particularly indispenslhle at the great feast. ”.4 _.__- -1-.. [any :uu an -_,_a., . Qui estes in convivis." The boar’s head was the. most distin- guished of Christmas dishes and there' are many carols yet surviving in its honor. The dish though “the chief ser- vice in the land"â€"probably as old as the Saxons. was the principal entree at all big feasts as well as that of Christ- mas. . Brawn was another favorite dish and figured largely at the Inns of Court reâ€" vels, where it was! generally washed down by some old mivesle, bastard or muscadel. . . The salmon was also a favorite dish .for the Christmas feast. :‘i‘lastly. the salmon, King of fish, ~Fills with good cheer the Christmas leapcuzlun: up u.» 3“,..- -‘WVv Salmon ples and. peacock were alsq necessary delicacies of the Christmas hoard. , - .. mu. ' The particulars of the Christmas feast arty thus humorously dnnted upon by an old poet: ”they sewed up salmon, venison and wnd boars 8y hundreds and by dozens and by scores 'Bogsheads of honey, knderkins of mus- and. Button. and tatted beeves and bacon swine, Herons and bitter-us, neacock, swan and bustard, Teal. mallard, pigeons widgons, and. In fine. V -. Plnnh'puddlngs. pancakeS‘ apple pies and custard. Alr tuerewithal they drank goodly Gascon wine, With mead and ale, and elder of our own, For porter punch, and negus were not known." The wassall bowl figured largely at these Christmas feasts. The early Sax- ona among other anticipated joys of a future state believed that they would aqua! mead and all from the skulls of their enemles, while feasting from the mintpoar Sergu er. ,,,u n, LA"__-J ‘- L-.... The' waseaii bowl is believed to have 'been especially a Saxon institution. The first '0! which we have record was an elegantly mounted skull filled with need, which Rowena, the beautiful daughter of Hengiet. presented to the British King Vortigern with a bowl of wine, saluting film with "‘Lord King Wm-hei1;" to which he answered. as he was directed, “Dr-inc heii," saluting her after his own fashion as his eyes devoured her charms. The contents of (he waseaii cup were ale or cider. to Which sugar toast and roast craps were added. . The followers of Odin and Thor drink largely in honor of their pagan deities: and, when converted. still con- tinued their notations, but in honor of the Virgin Mary, the apostles and the stints. The early missionaries were compelled to submit to the substitution, being unable to abolish the practice, w later degenerated into drinking the 01. other people, to the great 7 ment of our own. From the earliest ages the cup bear- er has been one of the principal cour- tien in the royal palace. , mu. “The boat's head in hand bring I, With garlans gay and rosemary, I pray you all synge merely, __...- I... nnnu‘v'l " But eating and drinking were not the only amusements at these early (Iristmas feasts. The days or festivity were ribald nonsense making, the Feast -of Asses and Feast of Fools being re- ligiously kept. These ‘were what ulti- mately developed into the mummers gphys. They consisted mainly of young men going about in female attire -or atlas of beasts, and with these pranks them he occasionally much vice and debauchery connected. All sorts oi Mooneriee and abominations were wilted at these representations; vs .mn. oxen, PRINCIPAL nun, now OBSOLETE. mock anthems an ass, covered terlor provendel provided from "i sen-vides were sung; ' ch rich priestly robes, ‘cler‘gy chorlsters and lime J10 time with In- ferlor provendg ,aclerty Chou-titers and nudd him and pray- péople dancing lag and lndulgl A: In 411 sorts of Impuri- Llcn. The boisterou? cane tree evel which} constituted the gighest tom of enjoy-‘ ment to the earl?" celebrators 01' Christ-‘ mas continue¢ wi more or less abridgement‘tofi‘the' . e proper way of celebrating unté $10.11 after the Round- heads in Pinging-{9 an the Lutherans in Germany had E'Vied o impart a sober tone to the greag r’Ch stian festival Ind the seed of i :ay ibe 'seen today in the glutton' nnltard who round up the holidays 1 , all the signs of hav- ing indulged ' Ti uncurbed debauch. Ivy and st toe are the two most ancient feature of the Yule tide dec- iorations, The f‘ 'pulnrity of the former t reaches .back: into ante‘Christmu times. In Egy] theAVy was sacred to Orsls, in Greece 0 BaCchus (Dlonysos) whose thyrsus : as represented as our- ties ivy and m'ist toe are the two mom ancient feature of the Yule tide dec- orations, The { ‘pularity of the former reaches .back. into ante-Christmas times. In Egy] therlvy was sacred to Orsls, in Greece 0 Beechus (Dionysos) whose thyrsus L as represented as sur- rounded with i y. The Romans min- gled it with i urel crowns of their poets; it theret z‘e lent itself readily to the purposes 0- she Christmas feast. The mistiet ”was an object of venâ€" erutlon among .iur pagan ancestors in very early ti '-s. Some authorities believe it w " he, golden branch re- ferred to by gil, in his description .0! the descent; 1:10 the lower regions. It; may thereioréflnve been used in the religious cereg‘i-ilnles of the Greeks and Romans.“ Th ‘Ebranch appears to have been the mls toe of the oak, now of great rarity, = aough the plant is found on a. great” unzy trees. ; By the Celt nation and the Druids it was held “ red, they attributing many valuab.‘ qualities to it. On ac- count ot its 11?: licinnl virtues they call- ed it guid hel . They preferred and used exclusively the mistletoe of the oak:- Vallnncey 2,4 ys they held the plant Vallancey :4 ye they held the plant sacred beca‘us‘r the berries as well as the leaves came in clusters of three united into 051: stalk, a number whiéh they held 53. r ad, but on the mistletoe of today the rave: come in pairs only. The Gothic ‘ ations all attributed ex- traordinary ,' allties to the mistletoe and it was '. cause of the death of their deity ‘ der. It came about this way: Friga «hen she adjured all the other plants had the animals, birds, metals. ear-t fire. water, reptiles, d1- The Gothic} traordinary spa it was (1 their deity way: Friga other plants metals. eart sease and p' hurt, unfort any pledge 1‘ kms' not to do, him any tely neglected to exact the misuemo. countd- Copyrighted. erlng it too weak Ind teehleto hurt him. and desplslug it perhnps because it had no establishment 0! its own. but lived upon other plum. .Then the god: in their great Assembly amused themselves by throwing 61m and missiles at Bolder all of which tell harmless. boke moved by envy. Joined them in the shape of m- old womon. and pehunded Hoeder: who won blind, 7 ._.._u-.-_ ._4. "an: yc- nu luv... The modern function of the mistle- toe is that of a. kissing bough. When the captive maid hanbeen kissed under the emblem of Christmu a hnppy new year should he wished her and n pree- cnt made her of one of the berries for good luck. it this is omitted the mold is apt to grow forgetful. A string of the berries." worn around the» neck in charm against witches. - A, _.‘_ _._.A_.._ sun: “I “nu-nay .. .--__ , There 13 a weulth of myth, mystery and history around the subject of Christmas cheer. but the obvious do» auction I: tlhnt we uro getting away from the stage when an orgle repre- sented the bean Ideal o! u Chrllmu celebration. 'A. C. WIILIAMS. No Plan Needed. Herald and Presbyter: The bridgeâ€" hullder with Stonewall Jackson'l army was t rare chmcter. l! the following story bgrtme: --- __‘._-‘l__ l“â€" BhUl 1 no ya no. The Union soldiers. retrefling from the valley of Virginia. burned n bridge over the Shenandoah. Jackson. who wanted to pursue, sent for his old hridgehuilderh “Sir," he said, “you must keep men at work all day and all night, and finish that bridge by tomorrow morning. My engineer shall give you a plan," ‘ ‘ 01d Miles minted and withdrew. Early the next morning the general sent tor'Miiu again. "Well. sir." said Jackson, "did the engineer xivelyon the plan togthe bridge?" ., AL- -IJ man nln-" plan u: “- '*General,: iiii'fiie old man, slowly, "the brldge In done. I don't know whether the picture is or not." 1901.};{fiphul Tuck Sons. VIRGIN AND CHILD. Plan Needed. New York. New York Sun: The report of the nu. regime: «2 via: stntletlee. just Is- sued. shows ml the number 0! dl- vorcee granted by the Heine court- hes grown from 552 In 1892 to 790 for thr Iut year. an increase of 43.11 per me. In nearly "Io-third: o! the use. the bush 0! the suit in given u either cruel and ebuflve tmtment or am. It is dulnred that the chutes o! deser- tlon are made “I many lnetencee wlth the common of both partie- tn the suit. and the same In true of the elleo ntlpng of cruel and Abusive tint-eat. IILm' “Inks-owe! remnants” Contmmtmdo. awn-Jun v. x...‘ . wâ€" -v--- The laws 0? the state am very iibeni in the matter/o! divorcee. and. upper- entiy. their intcrpretation by the court- ie mdunily growing more adv nauseoue to nu eeekiu Mon tram nutrim hi tiee upon trivial grounds. The stetietiu (or the int year show that only 71 euiu were eucâ€" ceeetul in which adultery wu Alleged. In this number the huebnnd we: the iibeiinnt 40 times end the wife 25 times. Out of the whole number of divorcee muted the wife we. the iibeiient 579 time- end the husband only 211 times. The complnlntl flexing cxtrcme cruelty numbered on y four. and In each Instance the couplflnnnt was a womnn. Thin chum I. m up only when it is possible to pro" panonnl violence blown upon the body and pc- tunl Injury. Intoxication m timid In 94 ml“, of which only five we brought Inlnnt when. For none time the growth in the number of divorce. bu been wreak and the lexililture ha been ukod to nuke the divorce 11w: mom stringent. According to inner: me divorce inw- of Milne are a: liberal as those of my state in- the union. with one or two ex- ceptions. Motherâ€"Another time you must In- ter-rum me when 1 un tuning to mm- 0“. Willie. Willieâ€"But. another, by the tune you'd unlined I would have forgotten what I "nut! to Infâ€"Detroit Free Press. Mr. Bereatord Omaha-d bu just ar- rived in Southnnpton, England. can mklflg n tour of the world on toot. consuming more thin IL! year- ln the journey. ‘ 1mm Wu Long-Windod. mvoncns n! um ‘f‘v*" nChinntheeunwillnotflunpolw End the coming chum Donia: where it will all to light»: the lfln )! I. Christina church or uni-lion. ' M a Mona festival Chrlltflll =eenn m be continually pining n the esteem and feeling of node ntionl. The your: as they roll by only eon: to equalize md hulmv the sen- :iment which wanting it. Some of the primitive custom eon- 1ecuzd with the great holiday my be ‘ lying out but the spirit which they per- ‘petunte hu grown stronger with the years. Each Christmu the country breeze- wait to mon- ears the glad sound of 1hr church bolls. bearing the retain ){ Christmas hope-that glorious chug- or which as Kingsley describes twohe 1n echo "in the culmor oi the wild fowl on the moor." 3 - - - â€"___|._e- 3U“! VII I'llv u-vv.. Not done and the Jewish W foretold this Me-ienlc epoch. but the seen of the tar out ind divined the advent of e Greet Prophet on 1nd even the Chinese Emperor Ill ec- tiu under the edvioe 0! hi- W had bent an ember-y to meet lain. lied that embassy ever reached Jude: th history of the world‘l civilisation nigh heve been reversed. Chin: and” wul have been the center of Christina 950-. you and modern enlightenment ville the even. would gradually lave heed drawing inepiretionl tron her W otbeinxtheleederuebemmdey. , A _-e.L_ V; “II-- vuv -wv-, ,W Christina d” thereto” in a celeb!!- tlon which :11 who as enjoy“; the benefit.- a! clvlluuon an enjoy bent- 117 mu mou- rellgion pretence would hue been dumb to!" had they; never sounded. um it .k W H' the day we celeb” II M neu' to being the enliven-:1 at the birth of Jesus Chrlgt. - '4 7 ,‘__..L u v. uh”.-- v... The Christian celebration seem“!!- ermhnveuhpmd Imummmoc Lb. gnu yearly Paul celebnflon. timed upon the return of the “m can wheel" (mm which the Celts tad Goth! belloved they could trace the movements and “Influences on at their lending demon, Odin, mm Ind omen. Almost all the heathen mm m- gnrded the winter solstice u I not: important event of the' yell. it being we point of reamed lite 3nd adv“: otthepomofmtmandotthom who were orizhuly only the symbol- lal pemngnmuonot than. ‘ . ..--_-AA.. dk' u... w...” ,_ ,, , One of the greateat dilicultiee with' which the early Christian Father: had in contend was the tendency of the people at the early celebration of Christmas to mingle with them the old pagan rites and ritual. in order to eflectlvely counteract theae innueoeea the liturgy .waa deviaed and dramatic representation of the birth of Christ and the leading events of his life were introduced. in thin manner came up the manual- songs and a vast collection of cable and drama! dealing with the birth of Christ. some of which subsequently degenerated into tame. and tool'a play From these also originated at a later date the custom of rovldinx Chi-tat gr the children. dumplings etc. in thia way W became a festival (or all. for you; all old, rich and poor and high aadlow. The modern celebration 0: Christina- la a van curtailment of the old Yule tide ohaervanoea which lasted (tom the winter solstice. December 25th,» Jan‘- uary 5th. the teat ace-yin: twolve ulghu. in which would” auxin-Iti- tioua ritea minted with the neat re- markabk orgiea, Chlmhuabayoffiwhohlll- may uncured nu claim to on W ludowntheuu. lie about black up”, whlch will probihly ruin m: health. but It compensatgd for this by getting ht. name In the newspaper. (at about a week or two. The compute” between the eheen- ence of the old MI tent. with". dreaded competition or the qropoeed notion of the god- end in terrible; belle! inthcir power to work evil from which there wee eppeei. dd the Iinpie Christine.- oelebretion ot'the present ‘1”. filled wi the cheerful hopdul- ne- which 3 cc in the power of the Sevlour has 3 on u. is one which tells it: own to end echoes the beautiful untim mined out In the remnant voices of the Christmas tells. LINDLEY FORSTER. up. Herbert C. Hoover II one of the high- eat gal-fled men of his run In the in» dunk! world. At the “e of 29 be It In reed“ 0! 883.000 unnuany tor HI. unle- u a lawn; expert.