Jflokrs M)i J|tstikls 



HISTORICAL NOTES 



*' Z^/ t/ie old ciisto77is stajtd firm " 



JT is evident that the use of flowers and green 

 boughs as a means of decoration, is almost instinctive 

 in human nature; and we accordingly find scarcely 

 any nation, civilized or savage, with which it has not 

 become more or less familiar. The Jews employed it 

 in their feast of tabernacles in the month of Sep- 

 tember; the Druids and other Celtic nations hung up 

 the mistletoe over their doors. 



A quaint old writer thus spiritualizes the practice 

 of Christmas decoration : So our churches and 

 houses, decked with bayes, and rosemary, holly and 

 ivy, and other plants which are always green, winter 



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