LIGHTED CANDLES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 901, 19 February 1930, Page 14

LIGHTED CANDLES

\v liile the Spaniards were preparing the A rmada against England, they were also waging a religious war in Holland. Ihere, tli,© horrors of the Spanish Inquisition brought many Protestants from other countries to help the Dutch. So it was no surprise to find gathered together in a certain house in the town of Haarlem, which was being beseiged, 1< rench and German soldiers as well iis the Fleming and his wife and children. Christmas Eve, and everybody thinking what an uncomfortable Christmas it would be, with food short, and danger ever threatening at the walls! Now—you must know that in Elizabeth’s reign—the time of this true story—Christmas trees were still unknown in England, France, and Holland. But they had for long been the custom every where in Germany. And so, when, at midnight the German officer told the children he had a great surprise for them in the attic, you can guess what he meant. Everybody trooped upstairs, the German with smiles on their faces. When the door was opened, there, before the astonished eyes of the little Dutch boys and girls, stood the first Christmas tree they had ever seen ablaze with a hundred candles. But even as they shouted with joy, a stealthy commotion outside announced that the Spanish were making a surprise assault, for this house stood close to the walls. In dismay, the soldiers were making hastily for the stairs, when the Fleming had an idea. He called them to stop for a moment, and suddenly flung open the boarded windows that overlooked the ramparts just at the point which was being attacked. Instantly the Spaniards saw the hundred candles, and all round the tree, which they could not understand, the soldiers and defenders of the town. They were amazed, and, fearing to fall into an ambush, scrambled back over the walls, and beat a hasty retreat. So the first Dutch Christmas tree saved a town, and brought the children a very nappy Christmas.