24 Dec 1859
Page 1
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This newspaper page contains 8 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Bristol Phenix
Location
Bristol, Rhode Island, United States of America
Date
Dec 24, 1859
Page
1
A verse from the New York Sun laments a mother losing her only boy. The speaker recalls the boy’s footsteps, toys, and little cap and dress, and laments the loss of hopes and heritage he would have carried into old age.
The text argues that eternity shapes humanity from infancy to death, with thoughts and actions confirming eternal outcomes. It includes a railway station notice urging proper baggage delivery after a husband misplaced his wife, plus a reward for a spiritual medium to read a fortune in plain English.
The essay traces how Christmas traditions borrowed from Saturnalia and pagan customs. It notes the yuletide log, candle lightings, gift exchanges, and feasting blending with Christian meaning. It recalls hearth rituals, farmity dishes, and village carols, linking past and present celebrations across England and Ireland.
A reflective piece discusses the charm of traditional customs as life’s illustrations and the influence of example on behavior. It cites the New Orleans Bulletin on social contagion, then contrasts English fashion in New York and Spain, and ends with a humorous tale from Boston about a soup recipe and a dog stealing a shin of beef.
A sermon urges embracing one’s lot as part of God’s plan and resisting envy or complaint. It contrasts spiritual counsel from Dr. Bushnell with a dining etiquette anecdote about a Strathmore farmer and Belmont, then notes Barrow’s remark on China’s Great Wall containing more material than all English and Scottish houses combined.
In a fiery Beecher address the speaker warns of eternal judgment for the impenitent and urges immediate repentance. He portrays life as a precipice and death as a loom weaving a grave, urging listeners to seek peace with God before time runs out. He emphasizes that there is no hope after Christ has been preached to them and asks for divine mercy.
A daughter expresses discontent with the mother and cannot be comforted by adjustments. The mother offers help, but the daughter insists dresses and appearances cannot match her figure or past fittings. The exchange ends with resignation to current constraints.
A garbled column reveals a child bargaining for peppermints at two cents an ounce, a printer’s note about editors absent and a gentleaning substitute, plus throughline snippets of provincial sayings about girls, faces and politics, all rendered in fragmented 19th century style.
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