We beseech all our youthful readers not to pass by our Christmas chapter.

We wish we possessed an abler pen, that would induce every family in the land, rich or poor, to celebrate the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave his life for us. Even if some learned men think the twenty-fifth of December is not the day Christ was born, what does it concern us? We know Christ brought love and charity into the world, therefore in gratitude we should celebrate his birth; the exact period is of but little consequence.

Seldon informs us that the Christian church, desirous of abolishing the Saturnalia of the Romans, a festival instituted in honor of Saturn, appointed a festival in honor of her Divine Master, Jesus Christ, to supersede it. But the observance of the day did not become general until about the year 500. The reason why the evening before Christmas day is celebrated, is, that in the primitive church the day was always observed as the Sabbath, and like it, preceded by an eve, or vigil. It was once believed that if we were to go into a cow-house at twelve o’clock, on the night before Christmas, all the cattle would be found kneeling. Many firmly believe the bees sing in their hives Christmas Eve, to welcome the approaching day.

We deck our houses and churches with evergreen, because at this sacred time the earth, then wrapped in darkness, was, as it were, clothed in living green by the birth of Jesus Christ, our Saviour; fit emblems are they, of the never-dying spirit of our Lord and Master.

The laurel is used with other evergreens at Christmas, because of its use among the ancient Romans, as the emblem of peace, joy, and victory. In the Christian sense it may be applied to the victory gained over the powers of evil by the coming of Christ. The mistletoe is used in all Christmas decorations by the English. Its berries and its green are very beautiful. It is a parasitic plant, and grows on the oak tree. A branch of mistletoe is often hung over a door-way on Christmas Eve, and if a gentleman can kiss a lady as she passes under the mistletoe, he has on that evening a right to the privilege.

The evergreens mostly used in America are hemlock, spruce, laurel, and the varieties of ground pine. The bright red bitter sweet berries gathered in the fall add to the beauty of the wreaths.

Many have asked the meaning of initials affixed to crosses on that day, such as I. H. C., and I. H. S. The former stands for three Latin words: “Jesus Humanitatis Consolator”—Jesus the Consoler of mankind; the latter, “Jesus Hominum Salvator”—Jesus the Saviour of Men. On some very ancient crosses are found I. N. R. I., “Jesus Nazarenus, Rex JudÆorum”—Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

“Yule” was a name anciently given to Christmas, and it was the custom to select a large log to burn on Christmas Eve, for in those days the old-fashioned fireplaces would hold very large logs of wood. The festivities of that night lasted until the log burned out. This log was called the “Yule log.”

The Scandinavians watched the declining rays of the sun from early spring even to December, with great anxiety, and erected slanting dolmens to detect the first certainty of its approaching return; and when informed that its face was once more turned towards their habitations, over which their enemy, the snow, had already usurped his authority, they brought the “Yule log” to the fire, and danced, and sung, and shouted, and drank, the grand carouse of all the year, making the frozen air jubilant with their Christmas carols under the mistletoe.

Our Pilgrim Fathers had suffered so much persecution from the Church of England, that they abolished all church festivities. Their persecutions made them austere in all things. They looked upon church festivals as devices of the evil spirits, forgetting that He who gave us the bright sun, lovely flowers, and sparkling streams, rejoices to see man cheerful as well as good.

Our Pilgrim Fathers suffered much for our good, and now our noble free country can afford to have many festivals.

The celebration of Christmas is fast winning its way, even in New England. The beautiful custom of decorating our homes and our churches yearly increases throughout the land. What can be more appropriate than to celebrate the birthday of our Saviour with garlands and songs, and the affectionate interchange of gifts.

God gave us his only begotten Son; we in humble imitation give gifts to our loved ones. God’s deeds seem consistent with this day. He, whose birth we celebrate, gave his life for us. Can we restrain our hands from relieving, our hearts from sympathizing with the poor, the bereaved, and the distressed?

The custom of giving presents at Christmas originated in Germany. It was derived from the ancient feast of Sol. The children of many Americans, who remember Christmas, hang up their stockings Christmas Eve, thinking “Santa Claus” will come in the night and fill them with gifts. Some, to avoid being roused at too early an hour, have taken a large bag, as a receptacle for presents, and the father or mother of the family in due time distribute the presents. Others have had a table spread with their gifts of love, or place their gifts carefully under the breakfast plates, or on the chairs at the table. But the German custom of Christmas trees is by far the most desirable. We wish it was universal here. The writer of this assisted in preparing almost the first tree in our portion of New England, but since then the Christmas tree has spread far and wide; a tree more productive of pleasure and fun was never before planted.

We will give some simple directions for the arrangement of the Christmas tree, hoping to induce some families, who have felt a Christmas tree was too expensive, to plant it this year. This tree is within the means of the poor as well as the rich, by the exercise of the united skill of any family.

We think all such festivals and family meetings assist in making “the home” the dearest spot on earth.

1.—HOW TO MAKE A CHRISTMAS TREE.

The first thing to be considered is how to obtain a suitable tree.

If you are not near any woods, and intend to purchase an evergreen from a nursery of trees, the “silver fir” is decidedly the best adapted for that purpose. In the large cities, trees of all kinds can be easily bought; they are carried through the streets for sale. If you go to the woods, the common spruce is the most suitable. The hemlock is the prettiest green, but its boughs are not sufficiently firm to bear any considerable weight. If a spruce cannot be found, hemlock can be used by nailing narrow slats of wood across the tree and under the branches, as a support. Paint the slats green, and they do not show; in that way candles and presents can be firmly fastened to its branches.

If the tree is not perfect in shape, nail on here and there an extra branch, until it becomes symmetrical.

Take a small round tub, or half of a small cask. Place your tree in the centre and brace it firmly, and fill the cask with sand. Cover the cask with green moss; it is the prettiest green for the purpose. It can be covered with little branches of hemlock if moss cannot be procured, or even a green floor mat can be placed around it. Another simple way to fasten a tree firmly, is to take a suitable block of wood, and have a hole made in the centre just to fit the stem of the tree, and cover the block with moss, or paint it. Then place your tree either in the centre or corner of your room where it is to be, first spreading a white cloth over the floor, which will not only protect your carpet, but add to the brilliancy of your tree when it is lighted. Some use a small tree, and place it in the centre of a table; the presents too large and heavy for the tree, are placed upon the table. When your tree is firmly placed in the right position, fasten on your candles with little tins, cut in the form of a diamond, with two very acute angles, and bent in the centre to form a right angle; push one point into your tree, and on the other fasten your candle or taper. The latter is the prettiest, and neatest to use. Buy the colored wax tapers. If you prefer you can cut up candles. Tapers or candles can be fastened also to your trees by wires, or by melting one end of the candle, and while hot, fasten it by the melted wax to the branch of the tree. Also you can purchase tins prepared to hold the tapers, made with a sharp point to fasten to the tree, and one to put in the taper; that point must be heated before fastening it to the candle. This tin has a hollow rim around it to catch the melted wax.

Trees can be lighted with gas, by unscrewing the centre gas chandelier, and fastening on a gas pipe reaching to the floor, with branches or arms of different lengths, according to the size of the tree, longer at the bottom, shorter at the top. Fasten your tree firmly close to the centre pipe; the branches of the tree should hide it. The branches of the gas-pipe should be wound with gold or green paper, and the branches of the tree placed, if possible, over them. This makes a brilliant tree, and is much easier to light, and does not require to be constantly watched. But wax tapers are more appropriate.

When your tree is firmly fastened and the lights all arranged, hang on your ornaments with wires and ribbons, commencing with the top of the tree first.

We will give a few simple directions for making ornaments, which may be useful to those who cannot afford to purchase.

To form gilded balls, take nuts, such as walnuts, filberts, and English walnuts (the latter nut can be opened and filled with anything you please, and then glued together again). Fasten a long tack or nail into the end of the walnut to hold it by, and afterwards to suspend to the tree. Wash the nut all over with the white of an egg, laid on with a feather. Then roll it in leaf gold till it is well covered. Be careful you do not breathe over the leaf gold, or it will fly away from you. A cheaper way is to take a sheet of gold paper, and cut a piece sufficiently large to cover the nut. Brush it with paste, then fasten it round the nut, rolling it over and over in your hand, to fill in every crevice. Apples covered with gold paper look very tempting; a smooth-skinned apple, of medium size, can be used, and the gold paper should be cut in sections, so that it will fit the apple smoothly.

Pretty little ornamental bags can be made of English walnuts. After the shells are well cleaned, varnish and paint or gild them in stripes, then bore holes in each half shell at the top and bottom, and fasten them together with narrow ribbon. Another prettier way is to take pieces of colored silk or ribbon, and fasten together at the side, then take half of one side of a nut, and glue the silk firmly all around the inside edge; hem the top of the silk and run in a string, or simply take strong saddlers’ silk and run all around, to draw it up. Thus is formed a pretty bag, which can be filled with candy; lace bags, filled with candy and parched corn, are ornamental. Take oblong pieces of coarse lace, run into the meshes bright colored worsted, then fasten them into a bag firm with the same worsted, and draw them up at the top with worsted. Birds’ nests add to the attraction of the tree. Take some halves of unboiled egg-shells; dip them in white of egg (but first you must have some moss ready), make a hollow of moss in your hand, and put the half shell in it. The moss will adhere to the outside. Take care that your moss be thick enough to hide the white of the shell. Line the inside with down or cotton wool, and put sugar-plum eggs in it. These nests look charming in the dark foliage of a tree. Small flags are a great addition; we would suggest that flags made to represent the national banner of other nations would be pleasant work for both boys and girls, illustrations of all of which can be found in any large atlas.

For horns of candy, get some white cartridge paper, cut squares, ornament them with pictures, mottoes, gold, silver, and fancy paper; shape them into a horn, and paste them firmly; cut off the top point and bind the rim with paper or ribbon, also paste on a loop of ribbon to fasten to the tree, and fill them with candy.

Glittering crystals, made of alum, are very pretty. To make them, dissolve alum in hot water until it will hold no more, then strain it off. Then take bonnet wire and form little baskets, sprays of leaves, little wreaths, or make the wreaths of tiny sprigs of spruce, fir, or take raisin stems (a slightly rough surface is necessary), suspend these by a network of string tied across the top of a deep basket; the dissolved alum must cover each article entirely; let them remain undisturbed over night. Remove them carefully the next morning, and you will find them glittering with minute crystals, resembling diamonds. If powdered turmeric is added to the hot alum solution, the crystals will be bright yellow. Litmus will cause them to be of a bright red. Logwood will turn them purple. The more muddy the solution the finer will be the crystals.

Sprays of mock coral, also tiny baskets of the same material, add to the tree’s beauty. To make them, take bright red sealing-wax, powder it, and dissolve it in alcohol. Then take your twigs, sprays, or anything you wish to imitate coral, and dip them in the above mixture until they are well dyed.

Baskets made of moss and filled with natural flowers, add a fresh beauty to the tree. Balls made of cake, and frosted all over, look like snow balls. Pop corn balls make quite a show. Bits of cotton wool, covered with diamond powder, and scattered over the tree, imitate snow.

Take gold paper, cut it in strips a quarter of an inch wide, and an inch and a half long. Take one of the strips and fasten together with paste, forming a ring; then take another strip and pass it through the ring just formed, and fasten it together with paste; continue this process until you have made a long chain. A number of these chains, festooned from branch to branch, resemble chains of gold.

Fairies always please children, and are easily made. Purchase some small, jointed wooden or china dolls, and different colored tarlatans for dresses, and form the wings of white tarlatan, or of white linen banking paper. Take butterfly wings for a pattern; sew on gold and silver spangles on dress and wings, or paste on tiny stars of gold and silver paper. Cut little strips of gold paper, and roll them up, as you do paper lamp-lighters, for the wands. Fasten them with thread or wire to the hand of the fairy. The crown of the queen can be made of gold paper, cut in strips long enough to go round the head, and cut it in points in front, and paste it round the head. Fasten wire round the waists of the fairies, leaving one long end to wind around the branches of the trees. Thus they look as if they were flying.

Many pretty things can be made from egg-shells, such as pitchers, bowls, goblets, and tiny cradles; ornament them with gold paper and little colored pictures.

There are hundreds of little glittering toys, which can be purchased for a few pennies, such as brass beads, little looking-glasses, glass balls, gilded toys, &c., too numerous to mention; odd bits of tin hung among the branches glitter very prettily.

Every member of a family preparing a Christmas tree, should use his or her wits to contrive little inexpensive ornaments; even the little ones, with some instruction, can make many pretty things, and it will add tenfold to their pleasure to feel they have assisted in ornamenting their precious tree; only let them think they can do it, and most assuredly it will be done.

In making presents, every member of the family should strive to find out the wants and tastes of those to whom they intend to give presents, thinking only of giving pleasure, and not of personal gratification of their pride or love of show. The golden rule our blessed Saviour gave us should be ever uppermost in our minds. Love should be the presiding genius of every home festival.

God works upon our hearts in many and various ways. Often the simplest thing in life may awaken us to a right sense of his goodness and mercy. So in home influences, if a Christmas tree every year can add one link to the chain which binds us in love to one another, should we not be paid for weeks of labor? Every child thus early taught thoughtfulness for others, must feel the good effects through life.

2.—THE CHRISTMAS BRAN PIE.

The bran pie is often used in England, in place of the Christmas tree, or as an addition to the “Twelfth Night” party.

It is within the means of every family, as its contents can be inexpensive or expensive, according to the taste and means of the maker.

First, a large wooden bowl should be obtained, or any large tin pan or dish. This can be covered with white cloth or not, as the maker pleases; a wreath of evergreens around the edge is an improvement.

The contents of the pie may be sugar hearts, rings, kisses, or any bonbons, mock rings, or gold rings, indeed, any article which can be easily tied up in a small bundle. It is desirable that there should be many articles in this pie that will cause fun and laughter. Blanks, such as an empty box, or some trifle rolled up in many papers. A bright piece of silver, called a lucky piece, or a half-sixpence, enclosed in a nut-shell, and like all the rest of the articles, tied up in paper, adds to the sport. All these bundles should be placed in the large bowl or dish and covered with bran. A large spoon can be laid on the top of the pie.

This pie should be placed on the table, after a Christmas dinner or supper, the guests or family all remaining in their seats around the table. If there are many little ones, it can be arranged beforehand, and have a servant, or some member of the family, place the pie at the front door, and ring the bell furiously and blow a trumpet; also place a paper on the top of the pie, on which is written, “A present from Santa Claus.” As soon as the bell is rung, the ringer must disappear at once, as children are wide awake at Christmas. We had a bran pie brought in that way; the children rushed to the door, and in their eagerness to see Santa Claus, ran past the pie some distance, looking eagerly on all sides; when they returned, one little boy declared he saw him whisking round the corner of the street. When the pie is on the table, everybody is invited to partake. Each in turn takes a spoonful; whatever bundle the spoon touches is theirs; the bundle must be opened at once and exhibited before the next person dips. The very inappropriateness of some of the gifts helps to create laughter, and there is a good deal of amusement in the after exchanging, or refusing to exchange, when the pie is all distributed.

3.—TWELFTH NIGHT.

In England their festivities continue twelve days. Twelfth Night is sometimes called “Old Christmas,” as it was the day celebrated as Christmas before the almanac was changed. The change was made by Pope Gregory XIII., during the year 1752. Therefore Twelfth Night has its own peculiar festivities. In some portions of England they have a large gathering of friends. During the evening two dishes of little frosted cakes are passed round, one for the gentlemen and one for the ladies. In each there is one cake with a ring, and one with a broken sixpence. The two who get the ring will be married before the year is out. The broken sixpence indicates an old bachelor or an old maid; but if the two agree to join their broken sixpence, there is a chance for them. So says the old tradition.

A lady, whose early youth was spent in England, says where she lived Twelfth Night was celebrated especially by the children. At their social parties they selected a king and queen, who regulated the festivities of the evening. Sometimes the lady of the house prepared cards, with various figures written or drawn upon them, among them a king and queen. Each child drew a card on entering, which designated the character he or she was to represent. Of course the lady managed to slip the cards of king and queen into the hands of those best able to preside.

In one of our small cities, where there are several families who unite in keeping Twelfth Night every year, they have but one ring, and whoever gets it must give the party the next year.

4.—THE CHRISTMAS BAG.

Make a large bag of thin white paper or silver paper, fill it with sugar plums, and tie a string around the top, to keep it fast. Then suspend it from the ceiling, or from a large door frame, and provide a long, light stick. Each little child is blindfolded in turn, and the stick put into his or her hand. She is then led within reach of the bag, and told to strike it. If she succeeds in her aim and tears a hole in it, the sugar plums are scattered on the floor, and the little ones scramble for them; but it is by no means easy to strike a suspended object blindfolded; generally many attempts are made unsuccessfully. Each child is allowed three trials. The maker of the bag can put in it tiny books, pincushions, or any little toy, with the sugar plums. This bag would add to a child’s party; it is often used at birthday parties. An older person should always superintend, for some children would be greedy or rude.