Cyprian, St. Chrysostom, St. Augustine, and a cloud more of
saints and fathers, from whom he made copious quotations. I was a
little at a loss to perceive the necessity of such a mighty array
of forces to maintain a point which no one present seemed
inclined to dispute; but I soon found that the good man had a
legion of ideal adversaries to contend with, having in the course
of his researches on the subject of Christmas got completely
embroiled in the sectarian controversies of the Revolution, when
the Puritans made such a fierce assault upon the ceremonies of
the Church, and poor old Christmas was driven out of the land by
proclamation of Parliament.* The worthy parson lived but with
times past, and knew but little of the present.
Shut up among worm-eaten tomes in the retirement of his
antiquated little study, the pages of old times were to him as
the gazettes of the day, while the era of the Revolution was mere
modern history. He forgot that nearly two centuries had elapsed
since the fiery persecution of poor mince-pie throughout the
land; when plum porridge was denounced as "mere popery," and
roast beef as anti-christian, and that Christmas had been brought
in again triumphantly with the merry court of King Charles at the
Restoration.
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