Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 December 1883 — A Merry Christmas! [ARTICLE]

A Merry Christmas!

Christmas, which always recalls pleasant memories of the past, in which we behold the faces of, .dear friends._whose presence cheered us in the olden time, is again here to gladden us with its t'ime-houored festivities, to melt our hearts with charity for the needy, and by reviving in us the Divineattribute cf “Good will to man,” bringing us nearer to God, the Father of us all. At no time of the year are men so forbearing, so kind, so good-natured, as during tlie Christmas holidays. Hearts hardened by selfishness seem to thaw under the genial ways of goqd feeling which universally prevails at this season, purse-strings are relaxed, and old and young are gladdened by unexpected gifts. The secret of true happiness is readily learned in the merry Christmas time; it is simply to make others happy, and you will derive happiness from contemplating their delighted faces, and the reflection that their pleasure Is ifi, a measure due to, your generosity and kindness. Let us then resolve, since happiness is so easily attained, to do our utmost to cheer the distressed, that one and all-may enjoy the pleasures of “a merry Christmas.” x The Christian Messenger “We once offended'a.brother by changing a sentence, and- yet the only thing we cut out was the announcement that some old mother in Israel had died of cholera infantum.”