The Hastings Standard Published Daily. THURSDAY, DEC. 24, 1896. THE MERRY SEASON.

Hastings Standard, Issue 205, 24 December 1896, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

THURSDAY, DEC. 24, 1896. THE MERRY SEASON.

1". >r the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, l'or the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

Within a few hours the Christmas of 1896 will be ushered in, to remind us of the years! that are rolling by. What should we do without Christmas ? It is the festival season of the Englishspeaking people, cherished in all climes. Rich and poor alike throw aside that austere reserve that, marks the workaday world, and we are drawn one to another by a religious Socialism, which impels us to forgive and forget, and to show a kindly disposition towards those near us. " A Merry Christmas " is on every one's lips, and in trrtth we all endeavor to the best of our abilities to make the season a merry one to all about us, and he must be of the composition of cold marble who can escape from the kindly cheering influences of Xmastide. At this season of the year there rises to the surface the grandest trait in the human race, and we are kind together in good-will and fellowship. We give with a lavish hand, rejoicing in the amount of happiness we create. If we sought below the surface for the reasons which so alter the lines that divide the one from the other, it will probably be found in the fact that we endeavour to emulate for a brief spell, the wonderful example of Him, who was the friend of the poor, and furnished us with the text which does duty every Christmas. " Peace on earth, good-will towards men." At no season of the year is Christmas charity so marked or so bountiful, and it is well that we should once in the twelve months abandon ourselves in doing good. There are other

features of the season that press upon the mind. It is the period which marks the family festival the fireside sacrament, when the scattered members of the family gather together under the parental roof to do homage to father and mother. We could never abandon Christmas; to do so would bo to obliterate from our lives the most joyous time. Christmas is the fragment of time freighted with the greatest happiness to the greatest number. We steal back into a hopefulness which sets up an invulnerability against the mischances of life. May this Xmas be to all our readers memorable among the times and seasons which they bear in grateful remembrance, and we wish one and all

A Meury Christmas and A Happy New Yeab.