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The Commoner.
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JVILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER.
Vol. 4, No. 49.
Lincoln, Nebraska, December a3, 1904.
WhoI Nambtr 205
V .
Christmas
Testival
?
Christmas Is love's festival. Set apart for the
commemoration of God's gift of His Son it has
grown into a great holiday which is observed
throughout Christendom by rich and poor alike.
Even those who refuse to take updn them
selves the vows of any church are con
strained to join in the beautify, custom
which makes both parents and children
look forward to tb'-s day with pleasant an
ticipations'. . For weeks before .December
25th busy hands are at work, lny savings
banks are gathering in their sacred store
. and eager expectancy Is written upon the
faces of the, youngv. To the boys and girls
Santa Claus, is a t sort of, composito donor
1
eludes every member of tho human race. Even
enemies are not beyond tho bounds of this love,
for man's puny arms ar not strong enough to
break tho bonds that unit' each son of God to all
Cbristmas1904
'Round the world 'tis ringing still:
"On earth peace ; to men good will."
T rr -iroore -urn nrrn?5 Tnfloan nlains.
Where shepherds watched their sleeping flocks
hv nipht.
Jt t- . . 1-t .m. ,1 -! - irnitiG
1 uaa ro nrrrt cnnir T7iif isi I'rni 11 iu' i 1:11 aiiu
JL ilVi W 1 tl .c owii n ftftww ww-----0
?L Aroused them. While the bright and golden light fc
ents?and;'who, fading, the minds. of his hy .tg ra(tfance Were the Wise men led . fc
xo wnere ine IIUU,tcl"uia ' ..
4 'Round the world 'tis ringing still :
5 "On earth peace ; to men good will."
Before the city walls the sullen guns k
4 Belch flame and smoke, and hurtle shot and shell, fc
TljrO' swamp and brake blood lust still swiftly runs, fc
While carnage manes uiu apuu wm.iu uini.u -. u
which tho intellect omploys, sometimes for good
sometimes for harm. But groator than all is
love, tho weapon of tho heart. It is a sword that
never rusts, neither docs l break, and tho wounds
that it leaves aro life-saving, not life-de
stroying. No armor can withstand it and
no antagonist can resist It. But why try
tn defino this lovo or to mcasuro Its scope?
Paul, tho apostio In his first cplstlo to th
Corlnthlnns dossrlbes it in language) to
which nothing can bo added and from
which nothing can bo taken. Let his word
sufllce:
"If I speak with tho tongues of mea
and of angels, but havo not love, I am
becomo sounding brass or clanging cym
bal.
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And it, I have tho gift of prophecy,
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little friends, rewards the- good (and all
are good just before Christmas) with the
very toys that hey themselves nave
selected, while tlje older ones learn by
experience that It is more blessed to give
than to receive. Back of Christmas and the
Christmas present is love, and Ihe broad,
brotherly love taught arid exemplified by
the Nazarene is not content with the re
membrances which are exchanged as tokens
of affection between members of the family
and between intimate friends; it Is compell
ing a widening of the circle to include the
poor and. the needy though not of-kith or
kin.- .'- -
What' an instructor love is! How It
develops tho one of whom it takes posses
sion! It 1b the mightiest influence known
among men. When once it is awakened It
dissolves all opposition. Dr. Parkhurst, tho
New York clergyman, iri illustrating tho
difference between force and love said
(quoted from memory) that force is the
hammer which can break a block of ice into
a thousand .pieces but leaves each piece
still IceJwhilaAove Js'the Wof sunlight
ivhich, thoughacting more slowly and si
lently, "melts. the ice.
At this season 61 the year our thoughts
r turr'to the" contemplation of the now degree of
love" revealed to the world by, Jesus. To love be-
tween.members of the family and 'love between
friends He; 'added an all-pervading Jove that in-
len.
"For God and right 1" may be the battle cry ;
2 And yet, through all is heard the sweet refrain
'Hie angeis sung ucucan 4 k .
That bent above the far Judcan plain.
3
i
'Round the world 'tis ringing still :
"On earth peace ; to men good will."
For not with guns, nor with the power of might,
Shall man be turned from paths with error
fraught.
Nor shot, nor shell, shall change the wrong to
right
tvt i-mc nrP works of God in wisdom wrought.
AXl-H. Hi"" . . . . .
Hark ! Once again the Christmas carois ring
.The message that the watchful shepherds heard.
Once more the angei ncraius sweeny iiig
rrh ;nnrr whose echoes countless hearts have fc
stirred. .
I; 'Round the worll 'tis ringing still:, -
rOn earth peace; to men guuu wm.
WILL M. MAUPIN.
SP-?V ? IP " fc
his brethren. "Love is not stupid," gays Tolstoy.
It makes known to us our duty to our fellows and
it will some day rule the world. Force Is the,
weapon of the animal in us; after it comes money,..
an! know nil mvstcrles and nil Knowl
edge; and if I havo all faith, so as to re
move mountains, but havo not love, I am
nothing. And if I bestow all my goods ta
feed the poor, and if I give my body to bo
burned, but havo not love, it profltoth mo
nothing. Love suffereth long, and is kind;
lovo envleth not; love vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up, d( th not behave Itself un
seemly, seeketh not its own, Is not pro
voked, taketh not cccount of evil; rejoicoth
not in unrighteousness, but rojoiceth with
the truth; beareth all things, belleveth all
things, hopeth all things, endureth all
things. Lovo never faileth; but whether
there be prophecies, they shall bo done
away; whether there be tongues, they shall
cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall
bo done away with. For we know in part,
and we phophesy in part; but whon that
which Is perfect is come, that which ig in
part shall be done away. When I waa
child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I
thought as a" child; now that I am become
a man I have put away with childish thing.
For now we sec in a mirror, darkly; but
then face to face; now I know In part;
then shall I know even as also Ihave been
known. But now abideth faith, hope, lovo,
these three; and the greatest of these fi
love."
The Coal Trust
.
s On December 1 the anthracite coal trust- gar
the screws another tura 'and the price of Its pro-
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