And mid the laughter and the glow
We tred a measure soft and slow,
And kiss beneath the mistletoe
At Christmas time.

O God and Father of us all,
List to Thy lowliest creature's call:
Give of Thy joy to high and low,
Comforting the sorrowing in their woe;
Make wars to cease and love to grow
At Christmas time.

Let not one heart be sad to-day;
May every child be glad and gay:
Bless Thou Thy children great and small,
In lowly hut or castle hall,
And may each soul keep festival
At Christmas time.

THE NEW YEAR

"A good New Year, with many blessings in it!"
Once more go forth the kindly wish and word.
A good New Year! and may we all begin it
With hearts by noble thought and purpose stirred.

The Old Year's over, with its joy and sadness;
The path before us is untried and dim;
But let us take it with the step of gladness,
For God is there, and we can trust in Him.

What of the buried hopes that lie behind us!
Their graves may yet grow flowers, so let them rest.
To-day is ours, and it must find us
Prepared to hope afresh and do our best.

God _knows_ what finite wisdom only _guesses_;
Not here from our dim eyes the mist will roll.
What we call failures, He may deem successes
Who sees in broken parts the perfect whole.

And if we miss some dear familiar faces,
Passed on before us to the Home above,
Even while we count, through tears, their vacant places,
He heals our sorrows with His balm of Love.

No human lot is free from cares and crosses,
Each passing year will bring both shine and shower;
Yet, though on troubled seas life's vessel tosses,
The storms of earth endure but for an hour.

And should the river of our happy laughter
Flow 'neath a sky no cloud yet overcasts,
We will not fear the shadows coming after,
But make the most of sunshine while it lasts.

A good New Year! Oh, let us all begin it
With cheerful faces turning to the light!
A good New Year, which will have blessings in it
If we but persevere and do aright.

--_E. Matheson._

CHAPTER III.

[Illustration]

YULE-TIDE IN GERMANY

"Feed the wood and have a joyful minute,
For the seeds of earthly suns are in it."

--_Goethe._

It was away back in the time of Alexander the Great that Germany was
m