Show OUR CHICAGO LETTER IN the heyday of his political I 1 and religious supremacy in england one of the fielt first operations f the puritan purita u was the enactment of a law providing that no observance v ance ba W had bad of the day of december De pember 00 balled christmas day to a 4 ferwn eran extent there was reason in thi t hi apparently I 1 bigoted and insane enactment the Chri christmas festivities of the middle ages were a scan and n disgrace to religion ell glon the ald W excesses the drunken reve revelries revel ories ries loathsome debaucheries debau debaug cheries herles which characterized the season of tu the p appointed anniversary of christs birth were such that christians had bad wank sunk even below the paganism of roine borne the saturnalia in their worst days clays could not have been worse than were the licentious and bouw aw doings of the christmas was aars a Hens james I 1 went mammer aag among the roisterers roister ers ors of his hip day this mummery was waa tery pastime and in truth a most indecent ceremony to make of it a religious observance it consisted ed of donning female at uye or any kind kiad of raiment and going abroad on visiting tours to bd dul geln all kinds of vice and WA WAness we can not no blame the endeavoring to pu put A to tj 0 o D christmas mummery groo of opinion exists ak 8 tae date of christs Chri atia rth we are told that if 41 was w ope A D who jilt fixed the ath of De december comber as chriss Ph riss birthday we are also told that at t chrysostom preached a C christmas cormon in an the city of de 55 4 aal it jo to 1 N the atter day cuvi A es of chis season eason will not partake tao much 0 wr pr of eyerer ey e err but that good follow fellowship ship and region aul wul prevail prall sir sar walter W r of Q chiamas then opened wide the barons hall to vassal tenant serf and all power laid his rod of rulle role aside and ceremony doffed coffed his pride the the heir beir with wath roses in kis bis shoes ahmea that night might village partner choose this I 1 Is a picture worthy of christianity ti it ll 11 shows that a spirit of equality was practiced ir for a short time it is noteworthy that in the purely catic countries christmas christinas was observed with much more decorum and more propriety than in what are called the saxon ano and countries much of the old ok observances entered into the celtic christmas ChApt mas the arii mistletoe part of it was specially and certainly it is a feature worthy of preservation when the I 1 mistletoe letoe I 1 was hung up then it was supposed that all petty spites sate jealousies an ani I 1 bicke rings between brethren were W ere immediately forgot tep te the te 11 was kiss under the mistletoe is ma U faful chaste and edifying ceremony as compared with the gourmand izing of 4 the liia wassail bow bowl sut tare here comeion comei comes in the 41 question on Is t this I 1 8 I 1 mistletoe this holly this ivy and all the evergreen system of doc decoration of entirely Dru idica origin it is true the druids druies delighted in deep groves and in spreading foliage tn in fact act f the word druid comes from the celtic word dara an oak tree before the giant oak his religious rites were all performed with the mistletoe much of his medicine work was performed the letters of his alphabet bore names of different species of trees his hia a was an elm his 6 I 1 the beech his 0 the hazel and his d the oak lu in this latter djs alphabet resembles the hebrew they are the only languages the letters of which bear a symbolic or rather ideographic form the a of the hebrew is an ax ox the 6 a cabin y the byte as 46 ifa hebrew to us in english and in gaelic bochan pronounced boA awn isaiah says the glory of lobanon lebanon shall come unto thee the fir tree the pine tree and the box together to beautify beautia y the pa place ace of my sanctuary and I 1 will make the place of my feet glorious 11 here comes the question q op Is only a form of debased or is there an element of in the old druid worship W or ship in an essay on gaelic poetry I 1 find the following the influence of the bards over the he multitude and the superstitious veneration attached to their office soon elevated their dignity next to that of the king the different orders of the state ate were distinguished by the number of colors which adorned their dress and while the peasants garment consisted of only one color the bards were allowed four one less leas than the number cumber woin worn by the monarch bim himself self moore remarks that this th law argues the high station accorded to learning among the ancient gaels gaeds a as well as a remarkable coincidence with that hebrew custom which made a garment of many colors the distinguishing dress af royalty and rank 11 1 1 philologists trace the footprints of the celt all through europe and across into asia if they would only trace the footprints of the hebrews in western europe much of what now now seems inexplicable le and obscure pop could id be made as plain as noonday see smiths bible dictionary for the word hebrew originally the word Is it a coincidence that we find the word iberia in spain and iveragh iverach in Tre ireland jAno it may be but when coincidences e es crowd themselves on us up we are forced to behink aee deeper per it ma maybe y be a c coincidence 0 inci that we find chicago a town ne near I 1 ar lake michigan end and chiclana Chi claua claus a town in spain near where the battle of barossa baross was fought in isil 1811 when the french were defeated it lt ma may y be a coin coincidence cide a ce to find cumans in venezuela cumorah in new york and cumberland in england it may be a coincidence that wessex so closely resembles wasatch in fact if wessex were sounded in its old celto saxon form it would comel come out phonetically wasatch but bat for the present we will go no further farther into coincidences however any person who takes the proper course of study will find no difficulty in tracing the hebrew from jerusalem right to the topmost peaks of the american continent and even in the wild heaths deaths of scotland and the brown bogs of ireland one thing is certain as far as chicago is concerned christmas has entirely lost its puritan effect here A few years ago distinct traces of the puritan Christmas were visible today scarcely any all ali the churches bad services of some kind even the congregationalists moved thera themselves selves a little the chicago theological seminary lea isa congregational institution a kind of minister manufactory it called a oon conference ference of home missionary superintendents college presidents and pastors for the purpose of improving if possible the quality of preachers it appears this sect beet is in a woeful condition as regards ministerial talent were it not for windfalls wind ivind falls from methodists baptists ani and muckers duckers Muc kers the raw material would run out altogether the reports report of the conferences conference as published iti hi the Ad advance vanoe makes lugubrious reading 15 altof lT of f scott pays there is a feeling that the minia ministry tr does not attract the best talent that the pastor is a kind of coffi compromise between a lady visitor and an extinct species of a previous ag age ay the professor is not happy in hla his co comb m mation oi of fossil and lady ii if estrue is true the I 1 average preacher Is the ve riest kind of 1 f foss and very little littfe of the lady lad is I 1 in n him unless indeed a harlot can be classed as a lady if the professor had said that the preacher is a compromise between a bunko berer and a bartender bar tender afi the bubis e eye y e would be hit sure gure ilear what the rev H defard DW D fard of dakota says t q have hae gathered gathrid a few men mefi from new england but with great difficulty 1 I have car carried bidd on correspondence with 81 31 persons desiring to td enter missionary fields I 1 found only on one graduate of a theological seminary among them I 1 was deluged with questions eions about about blit blizzards tards stor storms storma mg rheumatism educated society and so forth I 1 could find none willing to go to dakota as a mission missionary ary on any terms there are now DOW fifty communities in dakota sadly in want of pastors in this doleful strain mr wiard picture the mad ern christian missionary 1 condry this modern Ch christian rUtlan is a practical person why should he go to dakota neither christ nor the apostles ever visited dakota in abaft a blizzard IR rheumatism too is a fearful malady what christian could be happy limping along on crutches how different with utah I 1 am told that three fouche of the missionary aspirants of the united states want to go to utah there la is no rheumatism no consumption no hay fever no tio tic no preachers laziness in fact nothing then again all the pred chefs who are ailing or who have or children ailing want to go to utah it will only take one trip more of that exposition car to drum up all the gouty scrofulous rheumatic preachers imd and lawyers in hi the country to seek utah what splendid material fop developing territorial rit orial reso resources is 18 found in ib divines and rheumatic lawyers to the people bf utah this influx of alcaly scrofulous mentally twisted oblique non producing persons persona should be matter of serious consideration au an element of this kind bringing decay disease and corruption in its train is bad for a new country we are now trying to protect ourselves from the paupers haupers and criminals of europe but utah is helpless against the outcasts and vagrants of the united states the only course utah caiL cari with propriety pursue is one of exclusiveness the people of the territory that is the producing classes should keep themselves absolu absolutely tey aloof from the contaminating influences af of the dissolute and idle class of shysters shy gospel hacks and tramps who are swarming into utah and now that my soul might have joy in you and that my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you that I 1 1 might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave arb arise arbe e from il the dust my sons and be men and be determined in one mind and in one heart hii united in all things that ye may not I 1 come down into captivity read aiese these wora over again mark the poetry the patriotism the paternal solicitude contained in them what grandeur what abat sublimity what pathos there is in ID that picture urel cant you see the venerable brow the patriarchal beard the outstretched arm all exhorting the young ones to unity to reason rensol to sense for theli their own sake as well as a peaceful death for his for the antitheses to this read read I 1 nephi JJ ii 10 20 in the english language there is not 4 nicer bit of exquisite logic profound reason and divine mentality than is to be found in those ten vi verses broes JUNIUS chicago december 1888 |