om re J a -- There was once a Lack of Agreement as to the Date. Some New Discoveries the and a time of tender memories and retrospect for their elders. It is so much a part of mod- ern life, so distinctive gniversal a holiday, in Eng- speaking and many other untries, that it is hard to imagine a world jz which it was not observ- Yet such was the case, "once jupon a time." | In the exuberance of the holiday lspirit we may at times forget the {true significance of Christmas Day, {but never for long. A world that thas known much of strife, bitter- mess and disillusionment in the past decade, is finding itself again, and turning with renewed and re- wyerent eagerness to the things that have stood the test of time, and of arhich Christmas Day is symbolic. Historians and research workers are skeptical in respect to many early references as to the date of the birth of Christ. But many of ghem seem to agree that the first certain mention was by a Latin chronographer, A.D. 354, and which As given as reading: "Year 1 after Christ, in the econ- wulate of Caesar and Paulus, the Lord Jesus Christ was born on the 25th of December, a Friday, and 15th day of the new moon." Observance of Epiphany, or Wwelfth day, on January 6, pre- ceded that of Christmas and for a long time completely over- shadowed the great festival of our day. Like Christmas, Epiph- traditions and mythology that it is sometimes difficult to separate the secular from the religious. In the East from an early period Epiphany was observed as a three-fold com- memoration of the star that led the three wise men to, the birth- place of Christ, of His baptism in the Jordan, and His turning of water into wine at Cana. The primitive Christians celebrated Epiphany for twelve days, the first and the last of them, we are told, being observed with great solemn- ity. In later times much of the religious significance of this observ- ance was lost and "Twelfth Night," became a time of holidaying and revels of a less sacred nature. Be- fore the fifth century, according to various authorities, there was a lack of agreement as to when Christmas Day should come in the calendar, dates in January and March competing with the Decem- ber date which we observe. Just as it is difficult to imagine the English speaking world ignor- ant of Christmas Day, so it is impossible to picture a later period when governments and governors tried to abolish it. What would happen in Canada if the government decided upon such a course now? The children, and those who are not too crusty to be children at heart once a year despite the advances of age, would literally trample them out of ex- {stence. Christmas and Santa Claus are here to stay. But the Roundheads when they ruled Eng- land, forbade its observance, and for twelve years enforced their order. Religious reasons and the fact that the festival also embodied many features that were pagan in origin, though harmless enough, were the reasons for such action. The Puritans of New England also adopted a somewhat similar atti- any 18 alse so shrouded in legends, tude for a number of years. It is good to live in the present. A Significant Demand At a time when a great part of the world is completing its prepar- ations for the celébration of an- Other cant that new books on the life of the Man for whom the Christian world observes it, should be more eagerly sought and read than ever. A year or so ago, In a cave in ancient Rome, archaeologists dis- covered inscriptions in Hebrew, which some of them belleve prove that the first Christmas Day was observed in that city. "Glory, glory, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men" are the words. Who wrote them? Christian martyrs await- ing death in the arena, of Christ- fans worshipping in the momentary security of one of the under ground passages of the Imperial City? Like so much that can never be cleared up this will probably re- main an unsolved mystery. Of more sensational interest to the Christian world is the ancient communion cup, which for cen~ turies, says Dr. William Newbold, '""was a chief treasure of the Church of Antioch in Syria, mother of all the Gentile churches of the world." It is now secure in the vaults of a New York bank. It was discovered beneath the ruins of Antioch, by Arabs, some years ago, and eventu- ally was brought to the United States. There is an inside cup and a holder, or outside shell. The whole is of silver. Cup and hold- er alike are seemingly destined to figure in controversies aroused by the claims of Dr, G. A. Elson, who has studied the chalice for years and has published a book about it, His most arresting contention is that the chalice is the very one from which Christ drank at the Last Supper. That is a stupendous suggestion for Christianity the world over. Of little less fmport- ance is Dr. Elsen's argument in res- pect to the twelve bust and head portraits carved upon the holder. He believes that they were the work of an artist who had seen Christ and the apostles. There are two portraits of Christ, one as a boy and the other as an adult, and as in the case of the other portraits and of the other designs on the chalice, the workmanship is ex- quisite, The Holy Grail Critical experts while agreeing as to the beauty of the chalice, and that it is very aged, are inclined THE 'DAILY BRIT hristmas {Papas Christmas Day, it is signifi- to oppose the idea that it is contem- porary with Christ. There is doubt in their minds, however, and an anxious searching for more infor- mation, There are carvings on the chalice other than the pecrtraits which undoubtedly have a signifi- cance beyond that of many dis- coyeries bearing upon the early days of the Christian church, but which are not clearly understood at this time. It would be a miracle of discovery and coincidence If there should be found where this chalice was discovered, other mate- rial throwing light upon ft. If it was taken to Antioch for safe keeping during some persecution of the Christians in the Holy Land it is improbable that it was taken alone. Battered and bruised as it IS a ---- WHIG TT =, was when found, it was still com- paratively beautiful. While those who now own it refuse to disclose the actual point of its finding they admit that the searchers are comb- ing the same spot in the hope qf making other discoveries. There are no other portraits of Christ and the Apostles of the approximate time to which the critics as to these claims for this chalice being used in the Last Supper are inclined to place it. That is why there is a willingness among the doubters to refrain from immediate and em- phatic dismissal of the contentions of authenticity advanced by Dr, Elsen, It would be an overwhelmingly wonderful happening if anything should be found to substantiate the The Wise Men and the Star. argument that the chalice is Indeed that from which Christ drank. Think of the search that mankind has made for this, the Holy Grail, through the ages. Think of the crusades and expeditions of which it has been the objective, of the romantic stories and poems that have been woven about it. Many of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table sought it in vain. In one of Tennyson's beautiful poems, "The Holy Grall," Percivale The Pure, who had once belonged to that noble compady of Knights but afterwards became a monk, thus talks of it to one of his fel- lows: "The eup, the cup itself, from which our Lord Drank at the last sad supper with His own. This, from the blessed Aromat After the day of darkness, when the dead Went wandering o'er Moriah--the land of " SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1024 nu. Arimathaen Joseph, journeying brought | To Glastonbury, where the winter] thorn Blossoms at Christmas, mindful of our Lord. And there awhile it bode; and if & man Could touch or see it, he was heal'd at once, By faith, of all his {lls. But then the times . Grew to such evil that the holy cup i Was caught away to Heaven, and disappear'd." And now there are some who think that after all these centuries the Holy Grail has been found, by Arabs digging for the treasures of the past under the direction of white men. What a challenge ta the spirit and imagination of a generation which has been almost! satiated by discoveries bearing it Significance good Saint upon secular history - PROSPERITY FROM A GRAVEYARD. (Continued from Page 1.) These one-sided profits, before we're through with them, will do fis more harm than good," said an economist who looked beneath the surface in the booming days. Unfortunately, the unthinking in all lines of business were misled by the temporary prosperity which was based upon a great calamity in another part of the world. In the orgy of making and spending the suffering and losses of others were wholly forgotten. Credit was never so easy; the old caution and the old restraint alike were gone, With fortunes being made in a night, many clean forgot that there ever had been such a thing as economic law. Forgot that while man might guide the ship, he could not set the channel. Then at the moment of supreme conceit, prices tumbled to a place where we had losses previ- ously unknown to commerce. The farmer 'watched $2.75 wheat go glimmering until in the cold and Pitter dawn he awoke to the hard fact of 85c. a bushel. The steel master watched his products drop with a thud, from $200 a ton with premium to $50 per, and little demand at that. . Mankind has always been inclined to blame the results of its own folly upon evil spirits. So in the days of depression instead of recognizing cause and effect, many began to wall about sinister influence, Ple-a-Pot, the Indian medicine man, had departed. But his place was filled by addlepated quacks, who came forth in the Labor party, in ' the Farmers' party, and in every other party, to tell just exactly what was the trouble. Pola Negri, Rod La Rocque and Adolphe Menjou in a scene from 'Forbidden Paradise" at the Capitol, starting Monday, pS ort Your Dinner Before lt Is DIGESTED Food is certain to causedistressuntil you ime provedigestiveactionand sweeten thestome ach. You can do this quickly and surely by taking Beecham's Pills, Theirnaturalaction Stimulates theflow of gastric juice, increases activity of liver and bowels and improves "best food You ever ate." digestion. Take Beecham's Pills with confi dence, for 80 years' experience prove they are good for the stomach. Sold Everywhere in Canada When prices cease to rise, they begin to fall, This is an axiom of ptonomics. But, of course, our medicine man would mot recognize an axiom. According to them the first trouble wag the government. So we turned out one government, and a new one came in. But hard times continued. The medicine man abused the new government, as he abused the old, and told how they should keep up prices. When faith in legislation, commonly proposed as a relief for depres-| sion, began to fail, the theory was advanced that occult powers had been manipulating markets. markets, nothing of the decline of international trade to less than half its pre-war value. ; "The prosperity of our North-West and the consequent prosperity of our whole dominion depends upon the re-establishment of foreign demand. . We've got to get back to the unescapable fact of interdependence. Dana, of the New York Sun, once declared, "A tom cat mewing on the efty hall doorsteps is more important than a warein the Balkans." But gust now another war in the Balkans would add infinite misery to every producer in Canada. An interruption of production and consumption any- where throws the whole machine out of gear, 4 The greatest lesson of the war, fought for the good of all mankind, #s that suffering anywhere causes suffering everywhere; that the prosperity 'of one, which grows out of the calamity of another, can in the end yield paught but Dead Sea fruit. It §s not an anomalous situation in Canada that the west at this should be suffering most. If the east thinks that the west at speaks with exasperating tones, the extenuating circumstances are to gemembered. The bulk of their gross agricultural production must find ets abroad, hence that which effects the foreign buyer directly affects markets of the west. , Viewed in this light we see that for Canada, foreign affairs have 6 domestic affairs, that that which brings benefit abroad must in the bring benefit at home. 7e have had enough of the narrow, selfish and one-sided boom, enough tmmortal orgy of inflatio;: and deflation, for all and blessing for all. the political imbroglic of certain countries of Europe, economic development the world over is toward im- Of course nothing was said of the loss of foreign | ee i ] Bh Hoes: efi $3 pns i Is i In our minds a lot of needed re- form is the product of to-morrow. An effort for good, though it may fail, is never a lost effort. CE ------ We Can Make Your gasoline engine as pow- erful as when new, Arrange with us to have the cylinder reground and fitted with over- size piston and rings. Call and see our Heald regrinder. 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