That the thiefe, though ne'er so slie,
With his fleshhooks, don't come nie
To catch it.
"From him who all alone sits there,
Having his eyes still in his eare,
And a deale of nightly feare
To watch it."
In America, the young people are utilizing Christmas day as they do in England, if there is no frost, to go a-hunting. Afternoon tea, under the mistletoe in the hall of a country house, is generally taken in a riding habit.
In most families it is a purely domestic festival; although, as the tree has been enjoyed the night before, when Santa Claus, the great German sprite, has held his revels, there is no reason why a grand dinner to one's friends should not be given. And let us plead that the turkey, our great national bird, may not be cooked by gas. He is so much better roasted before a wood fire.