GIFT GIVING.--I believe in the festival called Christmas--not in the celebration of the birth of any man, but to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness--the victory of the sun. I believe in giving gifts on that day, and a real gift should be given to those who cannot return it; gifts from the rich to the poor, from the prosperous to the unfortunate, from parents to children. There is no need of giving water to the sea or light to the sun. Let us give to those who need, neither asking nor expecting return, not even asking gratitude, only asking that the gift shall make the receiver happy--and he who gives in that way increases his own joy. ***** We have no right to enslave our children. We have no right to bequeath chains and manacles to our heirs. We have no right to leave a legacy of mental degradation. Liberty is the birthright of all. Parents should not deprive their children of the great gifts of nature. We cannot all leave lands and gold to those we love; but we can leave Liberty, and that is of more value than all the wealth of India. The dead have no right to enslave the living. To worship ancestors is to curse posterity. He who bows to the Past insults the Future; and allows, so to speak, the dead to rob the unborn. The coffin is good enough in its way, but the cradle is far better. With the bones of the fathers they beat out the brains of the children. ***** RANDOM THOUGHTS.--The road is short to anything we fear. Joy lives in the house beyond the one we reach. In youth the time is halting, slow and lame. In age the time is winged and eager as a flame. The sea seems narrow as we near the farther shore. Youth goes hand in hand with hope--old age with fear. . Youth has a wish--old age a dread. In youth the leaves and buds seem loath to grow. Youth shakes the glass to speed the lingering sands. Youth says to Time: O crutched and limping laggard, get thee wings. The dawn comes slowly, but the Westering day leaps like a lover to the dusky bosom of the Ethiop night. ***** I THINK that all days are substantially alike in the long run. It is no worse to drink on Sunday than on Monday. The idea that one day in the week is holy is wholly idiotic. Besides, these closing laws do no good.