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Show IK-" Carol AM "car not." said he; (for mldity dread Mad Hzed their troubled tiin); Jlad tidings of arent )y I bring To you aid all tniyklftd." And ho ould fnraet the swing ft elody. and the charity taught In "Good King Wenenlaus looked forth On the least nf Stephen." He saw tho beggar gathering fuel i tho snow that lay "round about." nd rails to his servants to bring him ibis and wlno and to fetch the poor mn In from the cold. In the rural districts the nature fes-val fes-val lived lung after the church had iktn the feust. There were remains f tree worship and sacrifice to Per lima In Cornwall aa lust as 150 years go. The icasants used to go Into tie orchards on Christmas day with Bilfuls of cider and rousted apples, he health of the trees was drunk to ong. and libations poured upon the (Mils In various sections of north-rn north-rn Europe It Is the custom to deco-ate deco-ate trees out of doors. The fir trees s evergreens, and fruit trees for their iromlses, were trimmed with long treamers of ribbon or paper. Tho Christinas tree finds Its ances-or ances-or In the German ash Ygdrasll. a ;reat tree whoso top reached to Wal-lalla. Wal-lalla. the home of the gods, and vhose roots were fast In the earth. The Germans have a wealth of car-ls. car-ls. hut nearly all are of a religious tatiire. "Oh. Tannenbaum! Oh. Tannen-aum." Tannen-aum." or the song or the fir tree at Christmas time, has become world side. Who could count the households house-holds that rnthcr around the tapers Ighted and the tree loaded with 5"ts to sing this In unison. in the English household the song Is: "Gather around the Christmas tree, Ever green has Its branches been It Is king of all the woodland scene." Or It may be: "Carol, brothers, carol, Carol Joyfully, Carol for the coming of Christ's na tlvlty." The good old custom of singing from house to house on Christmas eve has crept across the water from Kng land to America. It was a part of the program of the season to learn these carols and to gather In bands, going from house to house across the soow and singing before the doors. The neighbors knew they were coming, preparing cakes and w arm drinks, and sometimes gifts of money. Whoever has heard "God rest ye, merry gentle men, let nothing ye dismay," sung heartily In the frosty air has a thrill and an experience that returns to him every Christmas after. And every Christmas morn Is awakened awak-ened with the stirring strains of "Shout the glad tidings exultlngly sing." Dut we must not think that England or Germany sing all tho carol music. France had a quaint literature of Its own. Here Is one of Nowell, or Noel, and from north to south there are delightful variations of It: -Nowell, nowell, nowell, nowell," This Is the salutacyon of the angell Gabryell. Tydlngs true ther be cum neu sen) frome the trynyte, Be gabryell to nazarrth cety of gallle A clene maydyn and pure vlrgyr thorow her humylyte. Hath ronceybyb the person secund li delte." Pere Noel comes down the chfmnej and gives gifts just aa Father Christ mas does across the channel, and tbi little French children sing: "Noel. Noel, Noel. Noel slngeth clear Hoi pen are all folk on earth Horn Is God's eon so dear " U M. McCAULET. iiBBj UiC twenty-fifth of Decern- It b,,r' rall,er tn week bout i If J l that time has been cele- rl brated for many ages wltiJ ( v rejoicing. Ing before the ' ' Christian era the pagan pa-gan astronomers decided that these were the shortest days before the sun returned to northern lands to bring another spring and seed time and bar-vest. bar-vest. The dreary winter was at Its worst, and the coming days would ; have longer hours of light and sunshine sun-shine and the reawakening of nature. na-ture. Therefore sing and be Joyful. The Egyptians held a festival In honor of the birth of their god Horus. The Romans called It "the birthday of the luvlnclble sun," and dedicated It to Ilacchus, rejoicing with him that the sun was about to return and revivify the vineyards. The Persians held a festlcal of uncommon splendor as the birthday of Mithras, the mediator, a spirit of the sun. In the north coun-, coun-, try among the worshipers -of Odin It was a nature festival of riotous feast-, feast-, Ing. because the fast of winter was , approaching Its end. It has been a . time of universal celebration accord-I accord-I Ing to ancient written history since , the beginning, and obscure tribes In remote nations have legends of their , own about what we call Christmas tide the feast of peace and good will. It As Christianity brought Its blesstii to follow the good of past religions, It 1( seems only right that the blrtb of J Christ should come at a time of gen-r gen-r eral rejoicing. It made It easier for s the pagans to turn to the Saviour of ! Light, at a time when the r turning ) sunshine In the skies was symbolical I of the feeling of brotherly kindness f which waa taught In the love or a lit-s lit-s tie child. And so as early aa the sec-k sec-k ond century the church celebrated Christmas day when the heathen were honoring: their gods. The Christmas celebration, aa we know It, Is but a reincarnation of the j Yuletlde of the Anglo Saxoti tribes. Singing Is a proper way to manifest' ( Joy. It delights the singer and gives j j pleasure to others. The churrhly ear-j ear-j ols were not enough for the hearty ' feeling. The pagan feasting remains. j And so with that divine old carol, j "Adeste Fidelia," are convivial songs. k. Come hither, ye faithful; Triumphantly sing; k Come, see the manger, u Our Saviour and King! To Ilethlehera hasten, j With Joyous accord! , Oh, come ye, come hither, j To worship the Lord! The contrast lies In "A Carole Drynging In Ye Dore's Heed." d Capri aprl defero. n Heddens laudea domino, r- The liore's bead In hand bring L With garlands gay and rosemary; And I pray you all sing merely, v Quls est lis In convlvlo. The church of the early days had ' some of the wisdom of modern social service. It entertained lis parlshion-I parlshion-I ers In a wordly nay as well as In- stilled religious doctrine The ms- tery, miracle plays and mummeries enacted under the direction of the clergy rehearsed the scene In the stable. These plays gave rise to a number of legendary carola. The "Cherry Tree Carol" was popular la London In the last century. It related the story of the Virgin begging Joseph j to pluck some cherries for her, and ' when be rufuslng. the unborn babe ! speaks and tells bis mother to reach I out her hand and the tree will bow ! before ber. and the carol goes on to ' r: "Then be pake Joseph. I have done Mary wrong." etc Another carol of this time Is full of beautiful Imagery. "'As Joaeph was a walking. He beard an angel sing The night shall be born. Our heavenly king; I He neither shall he bora In bouse nor In ball. Nor In the place of Paradise, But In an ot's stall." etc. TbU l In the same spirit as our familiar: fa-miliar: "While shepherds watched tbelr fiocki by night All seated on the ground. Tfce ste) of the Lord came dowa J And glory shone around |