The beauty of the day
was of itself sufficient to inspire philanthropy. Not withstanding the
frostiness of the morning, the sun in his cloudless journey had
acquired sufficient power to melt away the thin covering of snow
from every southern declivity, and to bring out the living green which
adorns an English landscape even in mid-winter. Large tracts of
smiling verdure contrasted with the dazzling whiteness of the shaded
slopes and hollows. Every sheltered bank, on which the broad rays
rested, yielded its silver rill of cold and limpid water, glittering
through the dripping grass; and sent up slight exhalations to
contribute to the thin haze that hung just above the surface of the
earth. There was something truly cheering in this triumph of warmth
and verdure over the frosty thraldom of winter; it was, as the
squire observed, an emblem of Christmas hospitality, breaking
through the chills of ceremony and selfishness, and thawing every
heart into a flow. He pointed with pleasure to the indications of good
cheer reeking from the chimneys of the comfortable farmhouses, and low
thatched cottages. "I love," said he, "to see this day well kept by
rich and poor; it is a great thing to have one day in the year, at
least, when you are sure of being welcome wherever you go, and of
having, as it were, the world all thrown open to you; and I am
almost disposed to join with Poor Robin, in his malediction on every
churlish enemy to this honest festival
"Those who at Christmas do repine
And would fain hence dispatch him,
May they with old Duke Humphry dine,
Or else may Squire Ketch catch 'em.
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