Irving, Washington / 2008-06-09 00:00:00
1819-20
THE SKETCH BOOK
THE STAGE COACH
by Washington Irving
Omne bene
Sine poena
Tempus est ludendi.
Venit hora
Absque mora
Libros deponendi.
OLD HOLIDAY SCHOOL SONG.
IN THE preceding paper I have made some general observations on
the Christmas festivities of England, and am tempted to illustrate
them by some anecdotes of a Christmas passed in the country; in
perusing which I would most courteously invite my reader to lay
aside the austerity of wisdom, and to put on that genuine holiday
spirit which is tolerant of folly, and anxious only for amusement.
In the course of a December tour in Yorkshire, I rode for a long
distance in one of the public coaches, on the day preceding Christmas.
The coach was crowded, both inside and out, with passengers, who, by
their talk, seemed principally bound to the mansions of relations or
friends, to eat the Christmas dinner. It was loaded also with
hampers of game, and baskets and boxes of delicacies; and hares hung
dangling their long ears about the coachman's box, presents from
distant friends for the impending feast.
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