EFFECTS OF DARKNESS. 205 



hour of the darkness grows a little longer, and soaks 

 a little more color from the blood, and takes a little 

 more from the elasticity of the step, and adds a little 

 more to the lengthening face, and checks little by 

 little the cheerful laugh and the merry jest that come 

 from the hold and cabin ; and, without being willing 

 to confess it openly, yet we are all forced to acknowl- 

 edge to ourselves that the enemy does now and then 

 get the better of us, and that we have often to renew 

 the resolution. The noveltv of our life is exhausted, 

 and the outside world has nothing new. The moon- 

 light comes and goes again, and the night glistens 

 clear and cold over the white landscape ; and the 

 memory returns unbidden to other days that are fled 

 and gone ; and we miss in the sparkling air and the 

 still hour of the winter night the jingling bells, and 

 the sleigh which will always hold one more, and the 

 wayside inn, and the smoking supper that " mine 

 host" serves up, and the crackling blaze of country 

 logs; and then, when we forget the moon, and the 

 snow, and the frost, and recall the summer and the 

 sunshine, we remember that " the seat in the shade 

 of the hawthorn bush" is far away. 



December 24th. 



Christmas Eve ! What happy memories are recalled 

 by the mention of that name ! How much of youth- 

 ful promise it brings back to the weary mind and to 

 the aching heart! How potent is the charm, how 

 magical the influence ! A beam of light has fallen 

 within this little ice-bound vessel, and from the prom- 

 ised morn we catch the same inspiration that has 

 come to all mankind since " that bright and lovely 

 star " first rose to the shepherds of Judea ; for wher- 



