Christmas at Church.

'Twas drawing near the holiday,         When piety and pity met     In whisp'ring council, and agreed     That Christmas time, in homes of need,         Should be remembered in a way         They never could forget.         Then noble generosity         Took youth and goodness by the hand,     And planned a thousand charming ways     To celebrate this best of days,         While hearts were held in sympathy         By love's encircling band.         So multitudes together came,         Like wandering magi from the East     With precious gifts unto the King,     With every good and perfect thing         To satisfy a shivering frame         Or amplify a feast.      The angels had looked long and far         The happy scene to parallel,     When through the sanctuary door     Were carried gifts from shop and store,         The treasures of the rich bazaar,         To give - but not to sell.         As once the apostolic twelve         Of goods allotment made,     So equity dealt out with care     The widow's and the orphan's share,         And of the aged forced to delve         At drudging task or trade.         Oh, could the joy which tears express         That out of gladness come     Be mirrored in its tender glow,     Before the beautiful tableau         Ingratitude and selfishness         Would shrink abashed and dumb!         If every year and everywhere         Could kindness thus expand     In bounteous gratuity,     To all her children earth would be         A flowery vale like Eden fair,         A milk-and-honey land.