OCR Text |
Show ' V.- ' , ' '' V.. ' . . . .: :i - i t i f i - J ' :; 4 i , V ;'' - . z ' - - ' v " t ' , , . - ! " l 0 ,--;..:,,- - - -rC F.y JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN '"'('S A )' nlnp,;e'on centuries the palnt-kikff'fr palnt-kikff'fr I Cl ers hmsh, tlie t'f:iver'3 tool VijyjS I nnd the sculptor's chisel have ivSll? y been busy with the representa-uU,fVl representa-uU,fVl t!ons of Jes"'3 Christ. But In f-yUVvi$ !l" the wor,1 13 t!icre n "kess V'J' votHi ' ""nl w"-h any credible claim ' '"V to authenticity? To one who is not satisfied with the efforts of tins artists and sculptors of all ages is recommended recom-mended the word picture which is attributed to I'll bli us I.eiitulus, who Is said to have been a Koinun centurion in Palestine during His lifetime. Tiie centurion captain of one of the sixty companies com-panies Into which the Ttom.m legion was divided had It is virtues as well as his vices. He was as eiicient and as "hard-boiled" as n modern sergeant ser-geant of the United States marines. His pasnion was service to Rome. And in statement of fact te his superiors he was of necessity and by tradition tradi-tion and training as literally exact as lay within him to be. And here is the statement of Fublius Lentulus, the Eoman centurion In Palestine, as It has come down to us through the ages: There has appeared in this, our day, a man of Ri-oat virtue, named Jesus Christ, who Is yet living amonscst us, and with the Gentiles is accepted as a prophet of truth, but His own disciples call' Him the Son of God. He ralseth the dead and cureth all manner of diseases; a man of stature somewhat tall and comely, with a very reverent countenance; such as the beholder may both love and fear; His hair In of the color of a filbert, full ripe, and plain down to His ears, but from His ears downward somewhat curled, and more orient of color, waving about 7l!s shoulders. In the midst of His head Kooth a seam or partition of hair, after the manner man-ner of the Nazarltes: His forehead very smooth and plain; His face, nose and mouth so framed as nothing; can be reprehended; His beard somewhat thick, agreeable to the hair of His head for color, not of any sreat length, but forked In the middle; of an Innocent and mature look; His eyes gray, clear ar.d cjulck. In reproving He is terrible; In admonishing courteous and fair spoken, pleasant in speech, iimld-(t gravity. It cannot be remembered that any have seen Him lauh, but many have seen Him weep. In proportion of body, woil shaped and straight; his hands and arms most beauteous to behold: in speaking very temperate, modest and wise; a man of singular virtue, surpassing the children of men. TT1' TO the Thirteenth century the pictures of Jesus Christ and of the Nativity were formal, it::por'onal and conventional. But in 1223 was held what may tie regarded as the first Christmas celebration, cele-bration, inasmuch as it marked the linking of the church observance of the birth of Jesus with the lobular midwinter festival that had come down i'rom the Komans and the Barbarians of Britain end the Continent. It was staged by St. Francis ( f Assist, of beloved memory, in a grotto near Creccio in the Abruzzl mountains of Italy. A I'-tgennt at midnight portrayed the Nativity -straw-i'lled manger, ox and ass; adoring shepherds and Wise Men nnd all. Thomas of Celano, who was i";;ong the worshipers, writes that they saw a filling babe appear in the arms of St. Francis as I -! bent over the manger. The report of tills i iracle spread over the land and a convent still i :ta:it was huilt to comfnemorate it. Giotto paint-t paint-t ! n picture of it In a human sort of way. And I '-.Is celebration and this picture was the source mm which sprang the countless masterpieces rep-r-enting the Nativity and the Adoration by the g cat ariists of all the world. The "Madonna and Child" is a reproduction of t':e work of I.uca della Kobbia (I.uca di SImone dl M:ireo della Kobbia of Florence, 1400-S:1). This f-mous Italian sculptor was the founder of a school which he and his family popularized for a century or more. He worked with terra cotta t gures In white and with colored draperies. ONI? grave at least is sure of decorations at Christmas time. That one Is the grave of In- Clement C. Moore, the author of " Twas the Night Before Christmas." His grave hs In Trinity ' "v v - " v V '-,.. ...7v- ; -;ict!tj'-. i . . - . ,."-"' ; . - -J-'" . " ' " " v' iiiji ';,!'", ' ' - , : -, Vs..' i - ' V.e - 1 f ? 1 - y t V 1 ;'j - 5 s .s 1 I J- 1 f t i' S - t N- L cemetery, New York city. The photograph shows the Moore family plot, with Doctor Moore's grave at the left. The children of the Sunday school of the Chapel of the Intercession decorate his grave every year and on Christmas Day sing carols and place fresh decorations. Doctor Moore's writing of the famous poem and Its publication are a story In themselves. Doctor Moore (1779-1S63) was born In New York, the son of Bishop Benjamin Moore, once rector of Old Trinity, the second Protestant Episcopal bishop of the diocese of New York and the third president of Columbia university. Dr. Clement C. Moore was graduated from Columbia and studied for the ministry, but was not ordained. In 1821 he became professor of Biblical learning in the General Theological Theo-logical seminary, New York. There he served until his death. He was a noted scholar and complied com-plied the first Hebrew-English lexicon published In America., In 1822 he wrote the famous poem as a Christmas Christ-mas gift to his children. A visitor made a copy of It, with the result that the next Christmas It was published anonymously in the Troy (N. Y.) Sentinel. It went over the whole country In no time and then spread all over the world. Doctor Moore was vexed over Its publication, but finally admitted authorship. Now his scholarly lexicon Is forgotten. But his poem has made his name immortal. TNCREDIBLY prosperous are the American peo-pie peo-pie these days. Their wealth Is shown In many ways, but in no way more strikiugly than by their expenditure for Christmas gifts. Experts estimate that their ante-Christmas shopping the country over will total between seven and eight billions of dollars this year. One reason why they are able to spend such a staggering sum is that untold thousands have been Eiaving for it nil the year through what has come to be known as the "Christmas Bank." In Chicago, for example, a canvass of the larger banks of the city shows that they distributed approximately $25,000,000 in Christmas savings early this month. This was an increase of five millions over 11)24 and of ten millions over 102... This, however, merely Indicates Indi-cates the growing popularity of the "Christmas Bank" plan. It gives no real idea of the amount involved. For the plan has been In operation iu practically every large industrial establishment, without recourse to the banks. SO RICH are the American people and so fast and furious is the Christmas spending that they do not even take the pains to see that their gifts sent by mail are properly wrapped and addressed. Of course all are n..t careless about It, but Uncle Sam, postmaster, has a bad time during the holidays. holi-days. Extra clerks cost him a million dollars and no small part of this extra force is kept busy handling poorly wrapped and improperly addressed ad-dressed packages. Many thousands of Christmas gifts this year as every year will be sold by Uncle Sam instead of going into the Christmas stockings for which the givers Intended them. The unaddressed department of the inquiry section of the post ofHee In the large cities resemtles a warehouse. ware-house. And at that Uncle Sam's experts have a positive genius for solving mysteries tind sending lost packages on their way. In about 300 cases out of 1,000 letters or cards inside srve as the saving clue. Some gifts cannot be held long alligators from Florida, for example, fruit, mushrooms, mush-rooms, live chickens and turkeys. These are quickly sold and the sale price held In a fund which is ultimately turned into the treasury. When all efforts have been exhausted the unidentified and unclaimed packages are sold at auction by an auctioneer who has little Christmas sentiment he gets rid of about 100 lots an hour. fHRlSTMAS Day has many Important aspects from many Important viewpoints bat don't let us overlook the turkey. Doesn't Picture No. 8 make your mouth water? It does, of course; otherwise you are not normal and should be put In solitary confinement for about 48 hours beginning be-ginning Christmas Eve. Nature apparently created the turkey especially for the family feasts of Cllstmus and Thanksgiving. And here's an odd thing: It was America that gave the world the turkey, yet this delicious piece de resistance of the Christmas feast is getting get-ting scarcer year by year. Not only is the production produc-tion of turkeys not keeping up with the increase In population, but Is actually decreasing year by year. We are raising not more than something some-thing like 4,000,000 turkeys a year nowadays, which is not enough to go around among a population of more than 100,000,000. Chicago, for example, probably paid $250,000 more this year than last for Its Thanksgiving turkeys. A good guess is that the near future will see us raising wild turkeys on a large scale. The experiment has been tried in several places and gives evidence of proving successful. The domesticated domesti-cated turkey Is a hard bird to raise. The wild turkey, on the other hand, seems to be able to take care of himself and to multiply with room and natural conditions. History shows that the North American continent was just alive with wild turkeys once upon a time. MISTLETOE as a time-honored part of the festivities of Christmas may be doomed so the rising generation should make hay while the sun shines or words to that effect. Mistletoe is supposed to have been a sacred plant, much affected by the Druids in their mystic ceremonies in old Gaul and Britain. For this reason it was under the frown of the church. As late as the Nineteenth century it was forbidden in English churches and still may be ! Now It Is rapidly disappearing because of Christmas demands. And on top of this the United States Department of Agriculture has declared war on the mistletoe in the national forests and expresses the hope that within ten years it may be eradicated. You see, the mistletoe is a parasitic plant, which flourishes on the life sap of the tree on which it grows. So the Agricultural department has declared it a forest pest. However, the main supply comes from the South, where the national forests are Inconsiderable. And Oklahoma remains a final refuge for the mistletoe devotee for there it is the state flower. HRISTMAS time again emphasizes the fact that all the world except Y'oung America is Increasingly reading the Bible. The printing presses are busy day and night and yet cannot supply the demand. More than 30,000,000 volumes vol-umes have been printed and distributed this year. Evary day brings word of new editions, of new forms, of new translations. Tliece are something like 1,000 languages and dialects In the world. The whole Bible has been published in 150 ; the New Testament in 138 more ; portions consisting of at I least one book In 42S more. From Albanian, j Arublc and Bulu to Yiddish, Zapotec and Zulu almost every tongue has its Bible. Yesterday the American Bible society gave an order for 3,000,000 copies of six separate books of the Scriptures Murk, Luke, John, Acts and Proverbs each tiny book to be sold in America and South America for one cent! Today a French publisher announces an edition of thirty volumes, with Hebrew and "Greek texts opposite the French. Tomorrow there vWU appear a translation of some new tongue or dialect. Chira, torn by civil strife, Increasingly demands the Bible. Russia Is the only forbidden ground ; the Soviet authorities will not permit It to cross the frontier. This increasing world-wide demand for the Bible emphasizes anew that Christianity is still the driving driv-ing force of civilization ; that the central fact of Christianity is Jesus Christ His life and person, and that the Holy Scriptures are the fount and Inspiration of Christmas Day. |