Sensible old souls! They were not going to allow business to usurp
their time and thought during this joyful season! The children must
have their trees, hung with gifts; the needy must be especially cared
for, and visits must be exchanged; so the City was left to take care
of itself, while each household was busy making ready for the day of
days, the season of seasons.

What a time those _hausfraus_ had polishing up their silver, pewter,
brass, and copper treasures, in opening up best rooms, and newly
sanding the floors in devious intricate designs! What a pile of wood
was burned to bake the huge turkeys, pies, and puddings! What pains
the fathers took to select the rosiest apples and the choicest nuts to
put in each child's stocking on Christmas Eve. Fortunately, children
obeyed the injunction of Scripture in those days, and despised not the
day of small things.

How fortunate it was that there were no trains or other rapid modes
of conveyance to bring visitors from the Puritan Colonies at this
season. There was no possibility of any of their strict neighbors
dropping in unexpectedly to furnish a free lecture, while the Dutch
families were merrily dancing. The Puritans were located less than two
hundred and eighty-five miles distant, yet they were more distantly
separated by ideas than by space. But a little leaven was eventually
to penetrate the entire country, and the customs that are now observed
each Christmas throughout the Eastern, Middle, and Western States, are
mainly such as were brought to this country by the Dutch. Americans
have none of their own. In fact, they possess but little that is
distinctively their own because they are a conglomerate nation,
speaking a conglomerate language.