"'My little ones are quite blases," a friend said to me the other day; 'I'm afraid the surfeit of gifts and gaieties they have had lately is not good for them."
This remark was in my mind, and added to the satisfaction with which I joined to-day a gathering of some 150 Chinese boys and girls of the poorer class, all scholars in connection with the work of the London Mission in Shanghai. No sign of the blase," the " surfeited " on these faces, grave with wonder, bright with expectation, or beaming with delight. Of the five schools present, two were from the native city, three from outside. Far distances had the little feet tramped, in many cases alas! crippled with cruel binding. The chapel looked well-nigh filled with the juvenile guests, most of whom were very neatly, some even brilliantly clad.
'A Christmas-tree, gaily decorated and sparkling with lights, amazed the young folk on their arrival. When seated, they were told that at 12 o'clock Father Christmas would ap, with his gifts, Amid a solemn silence, the clock-hand was moved round, and as the mystic hour sounded, a heavy' limping tread was heard in the gallery behind the audience, and a venerable fix with flowing white beard, was seen to hobble along, then heard to descend the gallery stairs. At length when suspense was at a climax, there entered a very ancient patriarch, clothed in tunic and slippers of crimson velvet trimmed with white fur, a hood to match ending in a long point adorned witha knot of the white fur which bobbed quaintly over his old visage, reddened and seamed and scarred by wintry wind and biting frost. His snowy beard fell nearly to his waist—if waist could be called the belting of his bolster form. Slowly he limped up the chapel, bent nearly double by the weight of a hugo basket on his back, piled with els; and when this was deposited in front of the glittering tree, the poor old man had to sit down on an arm-chair and recover his breath.
Still the children were speechless with astonishment and awe; but a little talk from the aged stranger, in their own tongue, reassured them. Some indeed seemed gradually to recognise a well-known accent in the quavering tongue, and here and there I noticed an exchange of knowing grins among the elder-children. As the old man took up the packages one by one and read out the name which labelled it, and the candidates came forward for their prizes, all constraint gave place to merry laughter. Most amusing it was to see the half-mystified face of the very wee recipients lifted to their benefactor and their repeated genuflexions in response to his. Now and then Father Christmas appeared not to perceive a tiny claimant, and turned hither and thither calling its name, and waving its gift, while the eager mite circled round him,' trying to grasp his furry garments.
Before the happy party broke up, the company was regaled with pork dumplings, which most of us would have shrunk from taking into our hands, but which they delightedly crammed into their mouths. A distribution of oranges formed the closing scene.
Kind friends in England had sent the gifts—dolls and other playthings. Would that they could have witnessed their bestowal/. Certain we are that no entertainment in Shanghai or elsewhere, for old or young, whether ball or banquet, during the recent festive season was better enjoyed, or will be longer remembered, than the London Mission Christmas-tree, RIOT NEAR NINGPO,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.