Nid ba 8 Y. DECEMBER 20, 1911 How We Respond, the Country Over, to the * Inspiration of the Patron of the Gifts ALL the iegends of good Seint Nicholas that have survived--not in the books, but in the traditions of the one that is held most near cud is that of the simple, good old man, very muck of the hermit, who lived many centuries ago and chose the eve of the Saviors birth 10 gladden the hearis of poor children and poor people generally in the neighborhood of his hermitage "with such sintple, ageful gifts as he could afford from op et, 1h" oeihon: the year. ' i dendum to the story kas it that od old Santa Claus, or Nicholas, finding 1s benefacti ns growing in their uceds be- yond his-modest means, begged of the richer 2 Jor the, poorer, sa that by the tims he died 4 espablished quite a custom of Christ- mas giving, which survives uhtil this very day, likely to survive for so many more Christmases that swe who follow so sumeraqusly in his kindly way will never live wig y $0. see'its end, nor will.our children down to pncounted generations, The Christmas that we niake real, the Christmas that swe realize is Christmas, is in Ws essence" wothing more than that earliest of medieval Christmases, made up of kindly ng. » 1% any gatward and visible" sign were needed of. the inner and srivitual grace of Cherigtignity, no more impressive evidence could be-asked than this of our own modern Christmas, which embodies the very soul of pity, faith and charity. 3 ns HE Int Nicholas, according to thé lls- i ' are so: recondite as to mention him, 'Was bishop of Myra, in Nyela, under the { Bmperor Diocletian, atid he dled fn the year 924 of the Ohristian era. Russia has him for a patron maint Aust accounts he wasn't particularly the welfare of his adoptive country. But too, belong te him, becalse of his prac- . 8, when he was alive, in insuring 3 of education. 'that Americans, with their passion for th of learning. are becoming devotees of roper, although Christmas has not "timely occasion for many of the educa" the hundreds of milifons which our thropists have supplied. strictly along ol Bishop Nicholas, the masses of the with fAdelity to the idea of Christmas giving, which days of the ancient hermit of Chelst- appropriately embrace gifts of any- JRE every one, but especially seeks to give I8 most needed or most desfred. | BROADENING THE DAY otably the Christmas of the Amer- that we have come to con- Al Christies as ideal and as the dus $Y of a people which leaves no one, for In actual hunger, of cold, or stark > ) the counfry over, té the Es the ancient legend ilngering in our a aad we respond more generously, mors uni. vatialiee 1 Ju Lash te a Lis aeuns back 40 8 NY 5 oe a ni Miso10r ar; 23/7 0 (4 id ¢ eT SEN $ d (225 CJ ED NE Le od" Va 1533 [BPR Childrert Fe G84 #4 gd ZR, Fy A - sumptuousliy at Westminster. But the building, as it stood, by no means satisfied his sense of his own grandeur or bis Ideas ofitestival prodigality Every year that passed with William Rufus on ithe throne carried the original kindly, picus feast further from the decent eonventiony which had attended its origin as a celebration of the birth of the Savior of all' mankind, pgor as well as rich. Rufus himself, of a chargoter gross pnd licentious, was prone to excesses that had all the ned viclousness of decadent Rome, without the lingering traces of artistic cultufe which at. jeast 71 ed them from the complete banality of the half-civilized British. Iv-was Rufus who, lx the latler part of his reign, reared the spacious hali at Westminster, the scene of 80 many royal Uliristmases in the centuries that fol- lowed; the great place of 1oystering, which: those who happen to remeber thelr Pope will recall as "Rufus rua hag ball Highard ine Second heightened the walls and added the famous roof of carved Eaglish otk; and although it was shortened of its earlier proportions by Sir Chéries Larry when he adapted it 10 the purposes Sf, vestiuule of the new houses of pariiament. it hes nikined an imposing monument to the tumultuous fessts in which the oldtime monarchs »y indulged. Rufus himself was far from satisfied with it. One of his courtiers remarked to him that it was too large for lis purpose "This halle," responded 'the aspiring Rufus, "ig not §¢ enough by ane-half, and Is but'a bedchamber in comparison of that 1 have mind to make." for hundreds of years it was the greatest of ita in Europe, and the Christmas feasts that wera in it were destined to be traditions of huge pitality, such as the geherations to come could stgh for, but never hid return. . Chose feslivities, howevar, were Ingtinct with the Christmas spirit which bids us eat our Christman uke behind locked doors and admit only those of our friends and creditors we need for the rest of the i a -- .the cotimdualiy had to take care of Lhens year in our business when contrasted with the spirit that embraces all mankind ' and is willing to forego some of its own seasonable pleasures in.order that others nay enjoy a tithe of happiness They took on more of the selfish aspect as the centuries rolled on, for the world itself was crystalliz- ing from the approximate democracy of barbarism into the hard cruelty of feudalism and vassalage Yér still another change was to ensus before real denioc- racy, born amid the thunders of revolution and sweeping onward through a century to the marvelous changes of the era we live in now, should jive avery man, noble and vulgar, the right to a Ci t.aas of his own--and, what has proved of vastly grea.sr use to him, the vested claim to possession of himself and his laws, by which he can procure the means of en ing it FESTIVALS BECAME BANQUETS In later centuries thé Christmas festivals of the kings became mugnificént banquels, at hich the nobles had the benefit of their liege's hospitality and ives--~which the commonally managed to do. AS the years went by, the nobility ren obligations to the tenaniry dependent on ti §0d megnanimity, uniil it became tlie fashio as the unwritten obligation, of the wealthy Christmas largesse an charity to the poor There are nobles of England who maintain the traditipns of the really charitable Christmas, as under. stood by nobility toward tenantry. of the duke of Rutland's Christmas liberality years ago at Belvoir Castle: "The, usual Christmas gifts were given to the poor-of Knipton, Woolsthorpe and Redmilo--nearly 200 in number--consisting of ealich, flannasl dresces, stock- ings abd handkerchiefs, each person at the same time receiving a loaf of bread and a pint of ale Twenty- some In essence. they were selfishness, Thus, an account ° one bales and sh different Ane eslublishnient hgd tne § alia $ i a oe liens Lin supper, the sersd 3 " bik v eon rated. Al ou with the letter ii; beautifully 5 A CUTONER opp end 1 pride, r LMEe cre The fallowir 5, in large Duke of h lanners Clrisimes to You AlL All yed ther ives, as It was the aec the coronels, with the 'peacock In of the Rutland family letters, were uous Hutland, Long Liv Lord and Yamily' and Merry present thoroughly wish of his grace they t The Christmas waits long ago in England mg traditioh of Yuletide hospijality to wandering mn sls Lugua open Sesaive Lo all doors in Christmas largesse--cakes aud commis, a share w sil, whatever hall or cottige coulda afford for the ic in wie United States the ecasieru cities sail have groups of children who perpoluate the custom, and only a generation ago, in Philadelphia, the mum-~ mers made Now Year's ¢vo a Christmas waits' harvest 4s universal as ever it had been in England Amid i these growihs of custom the charity which: begins at home had scrupulousiy minded its own affairs, too. and the practice of exchanging Christmas gifts grew among those whose prosperity and station were about equal, while the charming mith of Santa Clas took care of the eager demands of the children, that they be remembered with the toys and sweets that are as much their urgest needs to happiness as more solid food and calmer comfort are to their elders This country. taking over the whole Anglo-Saxon inheritance of lore and custom, at a time when charity . was #r crude as it was spontahecus, had alse the {m- perious need of the ploneer community, a universal necessity. for help In times of scarcity. trouble and suffering. and at consp Long aud Lady cialin vi Lae ¥ y 1X 'M GLAD that Chri<tguas doesn't come in June, § ins, skates and sled and - Because the things ! That Santa Claus will give me when he comes, © Among the other presents that he brings, Would be no good at all in summer time. I wrote a note to tell him what I'd like, Just so he wouldn't have to stop and think, Or maybe just forget and bring a bike. My cousin Frank has just been telling me ] never was 8 Santa Claus at all, But when 1 asked my ma she only said : She'd noticed that he never failed to eall At our house every single Christmas eve, -- er 4 And so we shouldn't let it worry us 8c long as he kept coming once a year. 1 guess Frank only tried to make a fuss. Last year I thought 1d stay awake and peck uf Sans Clas, and maybe talk to him A. ath Just to ask him whe And then 1 heard a little rattly sound, Just dike when niice are on the. pantry shelves, And 1 woke up and slid out, awful still, 80's not to make a noise and scare my ma. But Santa Claus had left the things and went. There wasn't any one dowgstairs but pa. 1 hope tfere'll always be a Santa Clans, 2 Because there always will be girls and Loys To bang their stockings up on Christmas eve For him to fll with candy, nuts and toys; And if be doesn't come, their hearts will' ache. My ma says looking for bing's no disgrace, And I Brow I will never get too big ' i= To hang uy stocking by the chimney place. led gift" In and some the south children Al.» genuine baronial days the pres «A sscipatién, when the slave, ike tha sire or elvilization we Bre helrs to, could ppoesl dale in the Yulet souion smumon Interdependence of the whole people. tions, extended 1 a8 1aft recipléemts only the misfortune of need, not the of ® r Christmas has d "Christmas many negroes I itag of f the as it is asked by lives with ug th en ruling class for giving and beers lency veloped into a festival t'me feels that the hunger of ness of the are might be fall accogty Pros ry man and wemnan the cold and wrotche thing off and remo ering wi aw. of the preat narch anger v @ Y of Father The land Hic peoplé f it, suddenly Niagara were leksly into its « lous ap, whose millions feel the erheod and answer te IL thing to nwarl rush of a natior far ved, as who dam I as thou Tous have aghioved, WwWiose labor equally 111 of desperat believ ger ALE td be h~and rich they slong for pogscs worii<there are fuow of ¢ Maman fecling that thelr enough wir wants. The toncles they thowe of the supply felt wir img to Christmas + Chriltms are by COMPA other peoples; ie as hardl # ihe Foncromity A tha réeatralnfs, as though f felon ¥ire that ugit charity-teo the mak ancient one of Santa Claus In to the poor-earrieg the ing of the sense of same of Germany or thelr poor were GIVING A NATIONAL TRAIT jut the extent of thelr givin the national limits. The universal of gifts can well be omiticd from the France «i A&E necésailions ange n ol real Christmas spirit of chat pli A As 3 Grown 1 Wong it in the Last ox Bah exchange its It to 58 ahd good equal will among people position a The good Mshopof Myra, like hie g tradition, had r ER poston it of such thought of rew ity's hat they did for dhe ignorabit ehtldren poor does both of them © Heving that they pug Hy any reward In he loving to make their liz sedy hoticr of be 18 think of Were just Biudly, Fiug about ther snd tried OF appier and beitér because they ikea to 8 Eoadness, wisdom ano happiness The city mission 'Ss, who appeal to us for the clothing we can spare to warm cold bodieg; the Salva~ tion Army Kris Klighos and lassies who brave chilli and reeking dampness jo coax coins from the passing multitudes; the counticss Christmas charity workers, who Importuge stranger and friend for contributions to thelr funds---all these, and there Gre thousands of them, are' reslizingeTn the deed and 'the spirit the fdeal of Christmas=Chrisiiun Chamty that was sot up by ghe first Sainy Nicholay of Banta of blessed rmom- ory. Where there were or two Satitas in those earlier days, names are legion no and they are the frst whe would laogh if Any one were to surmise that," in thelr turn, ihey were sarning beatidcation, » . But thelr appeals and their truly arduous ldbors would come to naught If the great Misses of the people did not respond as they do; the veal Christ nus can be made only by the generosity of a whole com- munity, with some to ask i millions more to give, The scriptures tell the #fory of ths nrst Christinas gifts in that imposing legend of the three kings bear. ! ing tribute to the infant Savior, whe, by the ways | happened to be just about as poverty stricken as ADY newborn baby that ever earthe Into wu chilly, inhos- jitabia world, Perhaps Saint Nicholas - iooked wpon is proteges as the living represeniatives of the poor, hapless child be served so zealously; and It in part | of the Christmas gift article of faith, AMONE Many European peoples, that whoever gives to the poor on Christmas gives to the Savior of mankind Here, with a national rush of Christmas appeals for | charity and a national response, we scarcely recall or ktiow the legends of the garlier customs. « 'simply, / hurry along, and give hugely in passing. Somehow, we don't pay any attentign either to the asking or the giving now. That is because we ! are téo Tamiliar with i. But it 'will do ne harm, #poll no fine quality In our giving, if for a mama t, Han't. so whch ghitipie They souls w aries une such thelr we notices that, in the United States, the real, origins Christmas i2 a universal thing. with nobedy in par tienlar taking any eredit for it, becadse everybody in genaral is concerned In It You see, American-like, we've Just syndicated i nas, that' slf, penal